I think we have an emergency,
by flying at tree level
Summary: It was an accident; he'd only meant to help her, not love her the way he did. But sometimes it's hard to tell if you're doing the right thing genuinely or if you've had your own underlying intentions from the start.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a Beck-centric Beck&Cat story with Beck&Jade and some Beck&Tori friendship. ****For some reason I really love Beck but I'm sure it has nothing to do with his gorgeous face and awesome hair and whatnot. ****Bade lovers please don't hate me for writing this. **

**Here's the first chapter. I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[A good guy with good intentions.]<em>

_._

_._

Beck left school early to go visit Cat.

The facility where they kept her was so fancy and pristine, with white walls and beautiful paintings that decorated them. Beck almost felt out of place walking down the clean, spotless corridors in his scruffed up jeans and dark boots, like he should have dressed nicer or something. But looking around at all the characters he passed by, he realized that it didn't really matter what you looked like in a place like that. Everybody looked out of place and everyone was treated exactly the same. The patients either looked too sad or too weird to be be in a place so lovely and the nurses were all too friendly and welcoming. He realized this was a good thing though, that they were keeping her in a place so non-frightening. Maybe she could feel safe here. Maybe these people could actually help her.

He followed the nurse down the brightly lit hallway, past the recreation area until they reached a set of numbered rooms. The young, blonde-haired nurse then paused in front of a door and glanced down at her clipboard.

"Caterina Valentine," she said. "Well, here we are."

She opened the door slightly and peeked inside. "Cat sweetheart, you have a visitor."

Beck stepped into the room and waved. Cat had been lying down apparently asleep, but she sat up when she heard them come in. She looked tired though, not quite as perky as she normally did.

The nurse turned back to Beck, "Visiting hours are over at 4."

He nodded, "Thanks."

When he looked at Cat she was smiling, that same ditzy smile. "Beck, what are you doing here?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Isn't it obvious? I came to see you, kid. How are you?"

She shrugged. "I've been better," but then she blinked and shook her head. "No, actually I'm good. I'm really good, so much better now. This place isn't so bad."

"Yeah? That's good to hear."

And there was an awkward pause of silence. And then he said, "Sorry to wake you up like that. I didn't mean to interrupt your _catnap._"

It was a stupid joke, but the familiarity of it sent Cat into a fit of giggles that he was grateful for. Cat's laughs had the power to ease any tension in any situation ever.

"It's okay," and she laughed some more. "Is anybody else coming?"

"Hmm?"

She cleared her throat. "Tori, Andre, Jade and Robbie...and Rex. Are they coming to see me too?"

_Probably not_, he thought to himself_._ But he didn't have the heart to tell her that. He didn't want to tell her the truth, which was that they were all probably a little too freaked out after witnessing her episode.

"Well they're still pretty wrapped up in the play and stuff. You know how hectic that can get."

She looked down. "Oh, right. Of course."

"But it doesn't really matter though because you'll be outta here in no time right?"

And she lit up again. "Yeah, totally."

After that Beck kept the conversation easy and light, talking about things that would take her mind off of everything that had happened those past couple of weeks (which was easy because Cat was probably the most easily distracted person ever). He filled her in on everything she was missing at Hollywood Arts and Cat entertained him with stories about the random happenings at the hospital.

"The people here are so different. Sometimes I meet someone and then I fall asleep at night and the next morning I can't remember if it really happened or if they were just a part of my dream."

"That's wild."

"I know right!"

Beck hung around for maybe fifteen minutes, but then it came time for him to go pick up Jade from rehearsal. When he told Cat he had to leave, he could tell that she was a little disappointed but no matter what she kept up her cheery disposition.

"I'll see ya around Cat," he said ruffling her hair playfully.

"Sure...Beck, hang on a sec. Could you do something for me?"

He paused and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Could you, umm...just tell everyone that I'm okay. Tell them that what happened was an accident and that I didn't mean to scare them away."

Beck sighed. "Cat, you didn't scare them away. They're just busy. Like I said."

"You're a bad liar Beck Oliver."

And he sighed again. "I'll come back okay? Maybe tomorrow if I have time."

She got up off of her bed and hugged him. "Thank you."

Beck left the hospital that day feeling a strange mixture of guilt and sadness. He was glad that she appeared to be doing better, but a part of him couldn't help but wonder how much of that happiness was real and how much was just a front she put on to try and fool everyone into believing she was okay. And he knew it wasn't his fault that he was the only one who had come to visit her, but somehow he felt responsible for it like it was his duty to try and convince the others that it would be okay to see her, that she was still the same Cat Valentine they always knew. He couldn't blame his friends for being traumatized though. What happened with Cat was so unexpected and...sad.

A couple weeks ago Cat had had a mental breakdown.

Everyone was after school working on different parts of the musical "Into The Woods," which was the show that they were currently putting on. Beck and Robbie were mostly doing behind the scenes stuff, while Andre was working on music and Tori and Jade had actual parts in the play. And Cat had a role too, a minor one but she had seemed pretty content with it.

Beck had been working near the dressing area and he could hear her practicing one of the songs from the play in the mirror like she normally did. He listened to her humming and singing the words thoughtfully to herself but then things got quiet, all of a sudden she just stopped. And the silence was followed by a loud crash that he seemed to be the only person to notice. He ran to the back to see what it was and froze when he saw her, crouched on the floor and crying surrounded by broken glass, a smashed mirror lying in pieces in front of her. Her hand was covered in blood.

"Cat what did you-"

"Please don't tell anyone," she begged him. "I didn't mean to."

"Alright, just calm down," he said, taking a towel from on top of the vanity table where the mirror once sat. He put his arm around her and held the cloth down onto her bleeding hand.

"It's gonna be okay," he told her, even though he knew that wasn't true.

"Please don't tell," she tried again, but then it was too late. The whole crew had filed into the room to see what was happening. Sikowitz came in first and took control over the situation, sending a student off to get the nurse. He was followed by Robbie, who almost fainted when he saw all of the blood and Jade, who just stared in disbelief. Tori covered her mouth and started to cry when she saw what was happening and she buried her face in Andre's chest, unable to watch.

And then it was all over for Cat. Her parents were called immediately and she was sent away to the Evergreen Care Center where apparently she had been admitted to in the past, before her first year of middle school. But none of them knew about that because Cat never told anyone about it. That was the year when she was supposedly staying in Calabasas with her aunt Caroline. But now he and his friends and basically the whole school knew where Cat really was and there were all kinds of rumors circulating around school about her. Everyone knew that Cat was a bit _odd _but nobody knew that her simple eccentricities were taken to the extent where she was downright unstable. Beck didn't like that people were gossiping about her now, but that was to be expected at a school like Hollywood Arts that happened to have its own gossip blogs and news reporting team.

Beck and Cat had been friends since elementary school so they'd always been sort of close. He even considered her to be one of his _best _friends. So of course after what happened that day he knew that he needed to see her, at least to make sure she was alright. He waited awhile until he got the okay from her parents and then he had gone to the hospital. But after that first visit, even though he'd told her he would try to come back, the next day that she was allowed to have visitors Beck had gotten roped into staying after school with Jade. He'd hoped that Cat would understand and not take it personally, but then again it was Cat and she took _everything _personally and he ended up feeling incredibly guilty. So that night he couldn't get Cat off of his mind; he kept picturing her sitting alone in that empty room wondering whether or not he was gonna show up. Cat was the only person he knew who could make a person feel bad for not doing something they weren't even obligated to do in the first place. Nobody could stand to hurt Cat's feelings. That was the last thing anyone wanted.

So the next visitor's day and the next one after that Beck went back to the hospital and spent time with her and pretty soon it became a weekly occurence for him. The more she progressed the more time she was allowed to have with visitors so after school instead of working on the play, he stopped by the facility to check up on Cat. Sometimes they'd go down to the recreation room and play ping-pong or play cards with the other patients and other times they'd take walks outside within the vicinity and just talk about whatever. Beck liked talking to Cat because with her you never knew what unexpected turn the conversation was going to take. Cat always knew how to keep him entertained so it wasn't like their visits were a chore for him or anything like that. But then Beck started to realize he showed up to the hospital more than Cat's own parents did. He pointed this out to her during one of their walks, but Cat made excuses and rationalized it like she always did.

"They're just busy is all. Like you said, everyone's always busy, busy, busy. Just because I'm stuck in here doesn't mean the world doesn't keep moving without me," she told him.

"But they're your parents, Cat." He shook his head. That didn't seem right to him.

"Well my mom's got her hands full with Michael. And my dad works so they can afford to send me to this wonderful place. Did you know that this is one of the best inpatient facilities in California?"

"Umm, no I didn't know that."

"It's also one of the most expensive...oh my gosh! I just remembered something!"

"What?"

"I forgot about Harry," she said, cupping her hand over her mouth.

"Harry?"

"He's my guinea pig. He's blonde and white and his hair is all curly," -pause for giggling- "and I just remembered his first birthday is coming in four, no _three_ days."

Beck put his hands in his pockets, "Oh. That's cool."

Her voice started to get all high pitched like it always did when she went into freak out mode. "No, it's not! Beck, his birthday is coming up and I'm gonna miss it! Oh my gosh, I'm a terrible mother! What am I gonna do? He's gonna think I don't love him. He's gonna-"

Beck placed his hands on her shoulders. "Cat...please calm down, " he said. "I'll take care of it."

"But how are you gonna-"

"_Relax._"

Beck had to bribe Cat's younger brother to get him to sneak out the little animal, but it was surprisingly easy. All it took was a bag of Red Vine candy and a glow-in-the-dark frog keychain. And the day of Harry's first birthday, Beck smuggled him into the facility in his jacket pocket. Cat squealed with delight when he presented the little rodent to her, clad in a make-shift party hat.

And there was another surprise for Cat that day too. He had tried to convince the others to come and see Cat also, but it was sort of a failed mission. But he did manage to convince _one _easily guilted, sweetheart to come along...

"Tori!" Cat exclaimed when she saw her. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't miss Harry's birthday," the brunette said with a smile.

The three of them celebrated in Cat's small room with granola bars and Tropicana punch (courtesy of the vending machines) and Cat and Tori spent some time catching up. But afterwards Cat was sad to see them leave.

"I'll tell everyone you send your love. We all miss you Cat, " Tori told her.

Cat smiled and hugged her briefly. "Thanks Tori." Then she turned to Beck, "Do you think you could take Harry home and look after him for me? Just until I get back."

"I'd be honored," Beck said. And Cat threw her arms around him so suddenly, he stumbled back a little. She held onto him, maybe a little too closely. Beck patted her back stoically and Tori raised her eyebrows at them.

"Thank you so much for doing this Beck," Cat said, muffled into his shirt.

"It's no problem." He loosened her arms. "I'll see you next time okay?"

"Okay."

Afterwards Beck had to give Tori a ride home, but quickly before Jade found out because he was under strict instructions to not be left alone with her (or any girl for that matter). Beck had to meet up with Jade later anyway and he wasn't really in the mood for an argument.

He parked outside of Tori's house.

Tori held Harry, who she had been holding in her lap the whole car ride, up to her face and kissed him goodbye on the nose. "He's just too cute," she said.

Beck grinned as she handed the animal over to him. "And he's so well-behaved," he noted as the little fur-ball settled calmly in his lap.

Tori laughed. "Yeah. And that was really sweet what you did for Cat."

He shrugged, "Yeah well, somebody needed to do something."

Tori paused, "Well, I'm sure we all _want _to help Cat, but we just don't know how to. You can't blame us for being a little freaked out by all of this."

"I never said I blamed you."

"It's just really hard for us, and kind of scary. We really care about Cat and that day was...traumatic."

Beck nodded. He understood that they all had their own reasons for being uncomfortable over Cat's situation. Robbie, Tori, and Jade had never had to experience something like that before. And Andre, well he had his own experiences with the mentally unstable, so the whole thing with Cat probably hit him way too close to home.

Then Tori told him that anyways it didn't seem like Cat needed their help anyway because apparently she had Beck. "So you go see her a lot?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Whenever I can. Visitors are only allowed a couple days a week and during the day there's school, so it's usually just for an hour or less."

"Ohhh, so that's why you quit the play."

"I didn't quit...I don't even have a part in the play," he pointed out.

"But you've been helping out with rehearsals significantly less than usual since Cat left... And does Jade know about this?" she asked, implying that he was keeping secrets.

Leave it to Tori to make mountains out of molehills. So Jade knew that he went to visit her every now and then, but he didn't see the need to tell her about it _every _time, especially since she didn't seem to care whenever he brought the subject up. And it wasn't like it would have bothered Jade anyway because Cat was the one girl she never got jealous over Beck hanging out with. He and Cat had been friends for the longest time before he even knew Jade.

"She knows me and Cat are friends," he said, casually.

"That's not what I meant," Tori said.

"Tori you're meddling."

Tori put up her hands. "Alright, alright I'll stop. I just want to make sure you know what you're doing is all."

Tori's implications and advice were unnecessesary as far as he was concerned; there wasn't anything to talk about because everything was simple. Cat was his friend and Jade was his girlfriend. Simple as that.

"And don't worry, I won't tell Jade about you and me..." she said referring to the whole 'them being alone together' thing. And then she playfully added, "...or you and Cat," with a grin.

Beck shook his head. "Goodbye, Tori."

"Adios!"

Beck didn't think anything of the things that Tori had said to him but he did think about them and it started to make sense to him why she would say those things. Leave it to Tori to put an idea into his head and have it be stuck there for days.

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><p><strong>So that's it. Any reviews at all would make me happy :)<strong>

**Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'll probably be updating fairly quickly over the next few days because I already have a lot of chapters written, I just need to do editing and stuff like that. Here's chapter two!**

**I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[Friends don't leave friends behind.]<em>

.

.

He tied the blindfold over her eyes. "Alright Cat, remember what I said. No peeking."

"But I'm scared," she said.

He put his arm around her and took her hand. "It's okay just hold my hand. You trust me right?"

She nodded and let Beck lead her out of her house and carefully walk her to his car. The whole car ride over he wouldn't let her take off the blindfold but she complained the whole time.

"Would it calm you down if I turned the radio on?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

He turned the dial and let an old 80's pop song blare through the speakers, which gave Cat the means through which to preoccupy herself. She danced in the front seat happily and sang to herself and Beck smiled, glancing over every now and then.

When they arrived at their destination, Beck took Cat by the hand and helped her out of the car.

"Is this it? Can I take off my blindfold now?"

"Almost," he said and he led her down the driveway. A couple steps later and Beck said, "Okay," and untied the blindfold. They were in Tori Vega's house and the room was filled with people.

"Surprise!" they all yelled in unison. From the ceiling a large banner hung that read "_Welcome Home Little Red". _Cat squealed in delight.

"Oh my gosh! A surprise party!" She started jumping up and down.

It was the perfect Cat Valentine party, complete with all the essentials. There were red velvet cupcakes courtesy of the bakery down the street. And chips and candy and Cat's favorite french fries from Foster's Grill. And there was a giant bowl of Cat's favorite mango-strawberry punch. The room was decorated with sparkly purple and red balloons and streamers, which Cat loved because they were her favorite colors. And Andre set up an ipod playlist on the speakers of all of Cat's favorite songs.

Cat loved everything about her party. Beck watched her as she ran off to hug everyone she hadn't seen in so long and mingle and talk, basically reassimilating herself back into the Hollywood Arts crowd. It made him happy to see her happy again so he stood by the sidelines and let her have her moment. It was just a week after she had been released from the hospital, three months after being committed, and Beck was glad that she really seemed to be doing better, or at least well enough for them to let her live at home.

Beck was hanging out in the kitchen by the punch bowl when a beautiful, familiar dark-haired girl with pale skin and black fingernails sidled up to him.

"Well," she said.

"Why, hello Jade." he replied.

"You look happy with yourself."

Beck shrugged. "Not as happy as she is," he pointed out, gesturing towards Cat who was dancing amidst a crowd of people.

Jade sighed. "Well I suppose I should tell you, as much as it nauseates me how nice you are sometimes...it was pretty sweet of you to do this for her."

"Thanks, but it wasn't just me. Tori helped too," he admitted. Accidentally.

"_Tori_?"

_Oops._ "Well, yeah I mean by letting us use her house, and she decorated and stuff but that was all. It's no big deal."

Beck had grown accustomed to Jade and her jealous ways so he knew how to diffuse these situations.

He put his arm around her and kissed her temple and said, "C'mon, let's go get some fries before they're all gone."

After the party, Beck started to wonder if maybe Cat wouldn't need him anymore. She seemed to fit back in nicely with all of her old friends, and that was what he wanted all along right? For her to be happy, safe and comfortable again. As long as Cat was happy then he could be happy too. And maybe he could spend more time focusing on Jade and stop getting into so much trouble with her. He decided he would be more attentive to Jade and make sure they spent more time together, doing things like movie dates and going to dinners. Even though Jade pretended she hated the extra attention he knew she appreciated it.

If he was being honest, Beck really only had room for one girl in his life, and since Cat wasn't his main focus anymore he'd let that go back to being Jade (who it _should_ have been). He'd hoped that Cat would understand and let things go back to being the way they were before, but sometimes he was afraid that she didn't. He worried that she thought he was doing it purposely to hurt her.

After school one day he saw her sitting on the steps of Hollywood Arts by herself with her hands in her lap and her head down. He almost didn't recognize her because of how depressing the scene was; sadness just seemed so unnatural radiating off of her. But he recognized the clothes she wore, the long gray sweatshirt that hung off her shoulder, the light pink ruffly skirt, her brown boots and most importantly the wavy dark red hair that framed her face.

"Beck we're still friends aren't we?" She asked him when he approached her.

"Of course we are." He started to sit down next to her. "Cat what's wrong?"

But Jade appeared out of nowhere, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him off into a different direction, towards the parking lot. "Come on Beck, or we're gonna be late," she said. They were supposed to go to a concert that night but they still needed time to go home and change.

He pulled his arm free. "Hold on a sec. Cat are you alright?"

But Cat immediately nodded and smiled, going back to happy, cheery Cat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Go ahead, I'll see you guys later."

Jade waved goodbye for both of them and took Beck by the arm again.

But since then Cat was all that Beck could ever think about. He knew it was wrong but whenever he was with Jade, Cat was always on his mind because he was always worrying about her. He didn't want to neglect their friendship and make her upset, but at the same time he couldn't do that to Jade either. Jade was his girlfriend after all. But somehow he felt guilty for being with Jade, even though she was the one he was _supposed_ to be with. It seemed like there was no way for him to make both of them happy.

A few days after their encounter, Beck hung around in his trailer alone at night with nothing to do but ponder his relationships. Jade had just left not too long ago; it was almost 9:30 and he was all by himself now. He was sort of bored, but it was too early for him to fall asleep so he just turned on the tv and started flipping through channels. But eventually he got bored with that too, so he picked up a playbook and started reading through one of the scripts.

That's when he heard a knock on his door.

"It's open," he called out, expecting it to be his dad. But instead a petite redhead opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hi Beck," she said.

He stood up. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you..." Cat looked around the room and paused, thinking to herself. "Well I came here because...I'm here because I'm hungry."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're hungry?"

"We were having stroganoff at my house tonight...and I _hate_ stroganoff."

"Oh, umm alright." He scratched the back of his head, a bit puzzled as to what her motives were, but then he decided to just play along.

He went searching in his mini fridge and came up with an unopened carton of butterfinger ice cream. "Any good?" he asked.

"Sure! I love ice cream."

He figured as much. He got two spoons for both of them. "You don't mind sharing do you?"

"Of course not, Beck." He handed her a spoon. "Thanks."

They sat crosslegged on the floor across from each other and passed the carton back and forth.

"So what have you been up to?" she asked.

Beck shrugged. "Not much. I'm actually kind of glad you're here."

"Really?"

"Yeah I was ready to die of boredom a minute ago."

Cat got super excited. "That's great because I have so much stuff we can do." She starting emptying various items out of her huge bag, one of them being a small bubble machine. She plugged it up and turned it on, letting a ton of small bubbles float about. "Isn't that cool? Imagine if bubbles could last forever. Then the world would be filled with them."

He smiled.

"I also brought Cranium if you wanna play that. And playdough if you wanna make animals and stuff. Or we could just play cards." She held up a deck.

"I'm up for whatever you are Cat."

They decided on playing cards, at first starting out with GoFish and then playing Rummy, Speed and War. The majority of the games, Beck let her win just so he could watch her adorable victory dance, which involved pointing and moving her hips and was always accompanied by lots of high pitched laughter.

"You aren't very good at these games," she said after her fourth consecutive win.

He just shrugged. "I guess not."

By then it was getting pretty late. When Beck pointed that out to her Cat didn't say anything. She just got very quiet.

Beck started dealing for another game and then Cat said, "Beck I have a confession to make."

He placed the cards down carefully. "Okay."

"I didn't really come here because I was hungry."

"No?"

She shook her head.

"Okay then why'd you come?"

"...I'm not sure."

It was one of those rare moments when Cat was unusually quiet, unsure of herself and unsure of what to say. Normally she just spoke without thinking, letting every little random thought she had float to the surface. But for some reason now she seemed nervous, and it was odd because she was never nervous around him.

"Is there something you wanna talk about?" he asked in a softer voice.

She shrugged and he waited. "Whatever it is Cat, you can tell me."

Cat dropped the cards she was holding, but she still didn't speak. Instead she grabbed her box set of Cranium and then said, "Can we play this now?"

They played for maybe half an hour or more. Beck doesn't know exactly how long, but pretty soon he started to get very tired. He looked at the clock. It was almost 1 o' clock in the morning.

"Alright I can barely keep my eyes open now," he told her.

"It's not that late," she tried.

He yawned for emphasis.

"I don't want to go home tonight," she admitted to him.

"Why not?"

Cat took a deep breath and said, "Because my parents don't understand me at all...I don't even think they love me sometimes. I mean sometimes I feel like you're the only person who cares about me and likes me for _me_...you do care about me don't you?"

That had sort of caught him off guard. "Well yeah, but that's not true Cat. Of course your parents love you. Everyone loves you."

"But nobody really...Okay, they look at me and all they see is 'weird and funny and stupid'. And they like me because they can laugh at me. But nobody really understands me, nobody _sees _me...except you. You treat me differently than everyone else does. You treat me like a person."

_Wow, _he thought in his mind. He ran his fingers through his hair, not really knowing what to do or say. He didn't want her to feel that way and it made him feel bad that she did. It made him want to put his arms around her, to hug her and have that somehow reassure her that she didn't need to be upset because no matter what she'd at least always be loved by someone. But it seemed wrong for him to do that. He couldn't do that because it wouldn't be right.

"You are a person, and you deserve better than what you get from people," he told her. "But I'm not the only person who loves you."

"But you _do_ love me?"

-pause-

"Yes, but i'm not the only one."

"But you _do._" Apparently that was all she needed to hear.

"_Yes._ But I can't be the only one."

She told him that even if he was it wouldn't really matter to her because maybe sometimes one person was all you needed. And then she asked him if she could maybe, possibly please crash in his room for the night, just this one time.

"Cat.."

"Please?"

Of course he ended up letting her. He let her borrow clothes to sleep in and Cat suggested they change at the same time, facing opposite directions because any other way would have been inappropriate.

It was still awkward though; Beck would have never looked at Cat or even considered looking at Cat because he was a nice guy, but even so there was the male part of his brain that had to _wonder_ about certain things...he was a boy and she was a girl after all. But Beck was a perfect gentleman and he even gave up his bed for her.

"Are you all good?" he asked. She nodded, sitting on top of his bed wrapped in his blanket and wearing his clothes and comforted by all things Beck.

"Yes. And I promise I don't snore," she giggled.

"Goodnight Cat."

"Goodnight Beck."

He turned off the light and the trailer went completely black. Beck then settled into the sleeping bag/bed he had set up for himself on the floor. At that point he was so tired he didn't really care where he was sleeping. As soon as he closed his eyes and got comfortable though, the sound of rain pattering against the tin outside of the RV sounded in the background. It was light at first but it got progressively harder and louder.

"Beck?"

"Yeah."

He could see the outline of her sitting up in the dark, her pale face illuminated by the lack of light in the room.

"Do you ever get scared living out here by yourself, away from your family and stuff?" she asked him.

"Not really," he said.

"No, of course not. You're not afraid of anything."

There was a low rumble of thunder, followed by a light gasp from Cat.

He sat up. "Are you scared Cat?"

There was a flash of blue lightning and Cat admitted to him that she was maybe a little bit afraid of thunderstorms. Somehow that didn't surprise him.

"It's just a storm okay? It'll pass," he told her.

"But I won't be able to sleep until it does."

He sighed and turned the light back on. He sat propped up on the floor leaning with his back against the side of his bed and Cat took her pillow and blanket and sat down on the floor next to him. There was a crash of thunder and she scooted closer to him.

He let her rest her head on his shoulder. Everytime there was a flash of lightning or thunder, Beck felt Cat tense up against him and squeeze her eyes shut really fast. He gave her hand, with its sparkly yellow fingernail polish, a gentle squeeze. It was the one that she had cut up when she'd smashed the mirror that day. The scars had faded so much that they were barely there, but if you looked closely you could see them. And Beck trailed his thumb along the marks gently enough for him to be able to feel them, the places where her skin wasn't perfectly smooth. He wanted to ask her what had made her want to do that to herself in the first place. What provoked her to hurt herself like that? But he was afraid to ask because he was afraid of what she would say. It was easier to think of Cat as her normal, sweet, bubbly self than to picture her having a darker side.

"Does this feel weird to you?" she asked him. She was so close, he could smell her watermelon shampoo.

"I don't know."

On the outside it probably looked wrong and it probably _was_ wrong but it didn't really feel that way. It felt natural having her so close to him, like she belonged there. And Beck was so tired at that point that what was right and what was wrong didn't even matter to him. The lightning flashes had slowed down and the rumbles of thunder were getting scarce. But Cat stayed glued to him, willing him not to let go of her hand. He pushed her hair out of her face and kissed her right above her eyebrow, the same place where he normally kissed Jade. If he closed his eyes he could almost pretend it was Jade, except that he couldn't smell the vanilla mint body wash that Jade always wore. Cat smelled like candy and Cat was smaller than Jade was, and softer and he could feel her smile against his lips when they kissed...

He took her chin and pulled her face up so that his mouth could meet hers and he kissed her. It was slow and light at first because he wanted to be gentle. He didn't want to hurt her or scare her away. But then Cat grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him back, harder. He leaned backwards, letting her hair fall over him and they kissed and moved and held onto each other until they were out of breath. When they broke apart Beck felt suffocated, like suddenly the room had no air. He pried her fingers off of his face and squeezed them, not ready to let go yet but Cat pulled her hand free and moved away from him.

"Cat, it's okay," he told her, out of breath. He needed her to be close to him again. To have her back in his arms. "It's okay, please just come here."

She seemed unwilling at first but he pleaded with her until she came back to him and settled back into his arms.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Cat quickly shook her head. "No, no you don't have to apologize. I've wanted to do that for so long, it just didn't feel like it was happening. I've never felt like that from kissing somebody before."

"So that's a good thing," he said, mostly trying to reassure himself.

"I don't think I've ever felt like that at all. Sometimes I don't...never mind."

Beck settled back down into the bed he'd made for himself on the floor and Cat laid down next to him.

They fell asleep separated, but at some point during the night his arm wrapped around her and she buried her head in his chest.

And the next morning they woke up inseparable.

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><p><strong>Thoughts and reviews please? The next update should be coming very soon. Gosh I love Cat and Beck so much...I feel like they would be so cute together and Beck would be so good for her. <strong>

**Anyways, please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here goes chapter three. ****I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[No excuse for what you've done.]<em>

.

.

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Beck would have never envisioned himself cheating on Jade the way he did. He loved Jade and he loved..._almost _everything about her. Even though she had the tendency to be ruthless and cruel towards other people, she at least treated him well and Beck had always secretly liked how honest and blunt she was. He loved her edgyness and the way her style was sort of like his, dark and vintage you could say. And he liked those rare moments when he could get her to smile and every now and then show her softer side, even though she always swore that she didn't have one. Beck liked how beautiful she was, but also how she didn't really care what anyone thought of her. Even though her jealousy was hard to deal with sometimes, most times he just found it amusing and somehow he and Jade just worked as a couple. They could talk to each other about anything. They understood each other. They cared for each other. They _loved _each other. Everyone at school saw them as this inseparable power couple that couldn't be broken up by anything or anyone (girls at Hollywood Arts had given up a long time ago). They were meant to be together, it was a proven fact. Jade was _meant _to be his. But...

Then there was Cat who was different than Jade in every way. Cat never hurt people's feelings. Cat probably laughed more than she breathed and she never wore dark colors, always pink or white or yellow or green or purple or red or all the above. Cat was sweet and bubbly, a burst full of energy in a quiet room. The only time she ever reminded him of Jade was when he caught her in a dark moment with her eyes cast down or her head buried in her lap, if she was upset about something. Cat never got angry like Jade did. She said things that didn't make sense and laughed at things that wouldn't be found funny by a "normal" person, and she liked to make people happy. Beck knew that he and Jade made sense as a couple, they just sort of...complimented each other. But he and Cat really didn't make sense at all. Nobody would have seen that coming; it was so unexpected for them to develop feelings for each other. If anyone, everyone would have assumed it would be Tori that could make Beck fall out of love with Jade. Maybe that was why it was so easy for him to do it and get away with it.

He'd done a terrible thing with Cat and he'd done it three times. The first time was that infamous night they spent together on the floor of his trailer during the thunderstorm. After that night Beck had pushed it out of his head, he went through the next day in a zombie-like state, holding Jade's hand as if he could pretend it never happened. But when Jade left him alone, he found himself running off to go find Cat. And when he found her she seemed so happy to see him that he grabbed her by the hand and took her someplace where they could be alone. He'd just wanted to talk to her, just to see how she was doing and how she felt about what happened between them. But they ended up going to the park they used to go to as kids and talking about everything but that. They stayed out past dark and afterwards Beck walked her home. In her front yard, under the big tree is where he kissed her the second time. It was just a goodnight kiss but it probably lingered a bit too long, he found himself not wanting to let go.

The third time they were supposed to be rehearsing lines together. Jade didn't seem to mind him spending time with Cat if they were just gonna be working on a script together. But Cat was in a better mood than she had been in lately and seemed genuinely happy. And for Cat, genuine happiness meant being very hyper and therefore unable to focus on anything that required her attention for more than a minute. She didn't really want to read lines, she was more in the mood for music and dancing and playful fighting. Beck just hung around and watched her as she bounced off the walls, but her attitude was contagious so he engaged in her dance-offs and tickle fights.

Beck lost the dance offs but he won the tickle fight; he got her pinned down on the bed and she squealed and laughed until finally she surrendered.

"Okay, okay! You win!"

He couldn't help wanting to kiss her then. Happiness looked so beautiful on her face. Their foreheads touched and then he kissed her nose and she giggled.

"What do I get for winning?" he asked.

"Well, what do you want silly?"

He loosened himself apart from her and sat up. "Well, if I'm being completely honest," he said allowing the mood to turn serious for a moment.

He knew what he wanted but it was the one thing that he wasn't supposed to have. But more than that he wanted Cat to be happy again and to stay that way. "I want to know that no matter what happens between us, that you're gonna be okay."

She looked at him optimistically. "Beck, I told you I'm fine."

As much as he wanted to believe her, Beck knew that Cat Valentine was a master of disguise when it came to hiding things. She was probably the best actress at Hollywood Arts.

"Yeah, I know but-"

Then she said, "I'll be okay as long as I have you."

She really knew how to tug on his heart strings, and somehow that attracted him to her even more. He knew it was always a bold move whenever he kissed her but there were moments when he couldn't help himself.

"I swear you're gonna drive me crazy," he said when they broke apart from the kiss and Cat smiled.

But then his phone rang.

And Jade's picture popped up on the screen.

He felt his chest tighten as he picked it up, and he knew Cat saw who it was too because she separated herself from him immediately. Jade didn't care that Cat was there, she was bored and she wanted to talk to him.

"_Beck_. You are not busy."

"I told you, Cat's here."

"What's that? Is that the sound of you putting other girls before me?"

Whenever Jade wanted something from him she usually got it. So if she wanted to talk to him that meant that his ear would be glued to his phone for at least ten minutes. He tried to keep it short but it didn't end up being that way. When he finally hung up the phone, Cat was sitting on the floor away from him with her hands in her lap.

"I should probably go now," she said.

"You don't have to," he told her.

But she put on her jacket and gathered her things and left anyway.

He spent the whole night thinking about what he was doing and he realized how wrong it was...how long he had been in denial about his feelings. He had cheated on Jade and there was nothing he could do to rationalize that or make that okay.

As the days passed by, Beck felt the guilt set in and it started to wear him down. He felt guilty for going behind Jade's back the way he did, after all the time he'd spent trying to convince her that he could be trusted. He felt guilty for lying to her. He felt guilty for kissing Cat and promising her things he probably wouldn't be able to give her. He felt guilty for the mess he had conciously created (there was no excuse for it). And mostly he felt guilty for not feeling guilty about it sooner. But sooner or later the truth would have to come out and he felt sick worrying about it because it brought his mind back to the one time he and Jade had broken up and how she had almost lost her mind without him. What was she gonna do when she found out what he had done now?

He didn't know what to do...he texted Tori and told her he needed to talk to someone. It was early in the morning but Tori didn't mind stopping by his house on her way to her pilates class.

"I brought bagels," she said, grinning with a paper bag as he opened the door.

"Great," he said with a noted lack of enthusiasm.

She frowned. "Okay, tell me what's going on. You're all moody and weird."

He sighed, sitting down on his bed, not knowing where to begin. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed something small and shiny sitting near his pillow.

"I did something pretty bad. And it involves me and Jade," he said.

"I'm sure you guys will find a way to work it out. What did you do exactly?"

Beck didn't answer right away. He wasn't ready to admit to what he had done just yet. The small, metallic object that was sitting near his pillow he noticed was in the shape of a butterfly. It was a sparkly butterfly hairclip.

"Hey, what's that?" Tori asked.

He picked it up and twisted it around with his fingers. "That's umm," he dropped it back down onto his nightstand, "that's Cat's hairclip."

"Oh," Tori said, with a slightly puzzled expression. But then she seemed to put two and two together. "_Ohh_..." and then, "Oh my god, Beck you didn't.."

He didn't even have to admit to it because his face probably told her everything she needed to know.

"What did you do?" Tori asked.

"I kissed her," he said.

"You _kissed_ Cat. And you haven't told Jade about this?"

"What do you think? I'm sure I'd be dead by now if I had."

Tori then went on to react the way he imagined she would, by freaking out and getting mad at him for telling her and putting her in the middle of them _once_ again.

"I don't understand how you could even do that."

"I didn't plan on it...it just sort of happened."

"So do you love Cat now, or something?" she asked him.

That was a complicated question. Yes he loved Cat but he'd always loved her, in that friendship kinda way where you've known somebody for such a long time that you grow to care about them like crazy. But now his feelings towards her had sort of grown into something he didn't even know how to describe. It was like kind of romantic "friendship-love" on steroids.

"I can't really answer that," he said. He wasn't ready to admit to that quite yet, at least until he fully understood the answer himself.

"Then what about Jade?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, Tori. It's all really complicated and confusing."

"Well you need to figure it out pretty quick before somebody gets really hurt."

"Trust me, I know." In reality, no matter what he did _somebody_ was gonna get hurt.

Tori wasn't much help to him in the way of giving advice but it was nice for him to at least have someone to talk to, to get it off his chest.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I wish I could tell you what to do."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure I'll figure something out. I appreciate you coming by and...thanks for the bagels."

He gave her a sad smile and Tori patted him on the back.

Before she left him she said, "If there's one piece of advice I can give you, it'd be that you need to tell Jade what happened. You can't go on lying to her forever."

He sighed. "Yeah."

He knew she was right. He dreaded the thought of it but pretty soon he was gonna have to tell Jade what he did. And the longer he put it off the harder it would be to do it. Still, that was something he was _not_ looking forward to.

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><p><strong>Sooo I'm thinking next chapter Jade finds out about Beck and Cat :-**

**Thoughts? Reviews?**


	4. Chapter 4

**I really appreciate any reviews I get. Any feedback or ideas I get I take into consideration because I really want to do a good job with this. Thanks again!**

**And here's chapter 4. I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[Every end is a new beginning.]<em>

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Beck remembered one of the first dates he'd had with Jade very early in their relationship when they were first beginning to date. He remembered how they went to a party together and he'd _jokingly_ winked at another girl in somewhat of a flirtatious manner. It made the girl smile but Jade didn't think it was cute nor funny and she'd flipped out on him, creating a big scene in front of everyone. She berated him and accused him of flirting with another girl right in front of her face and then she'd stormed off in a huff.

Normally that would've been a deal breaker for him. Being attacked like that out of nowhere in _public_ when he really hadn't done anything wrong should have been a pretty big red flag warning for him to run away as fast he could.

But instead of running away from her he ran after her. He found her sitting outside on the porch with her arms wrapped around herself all alone. He approached her carefully and then said, "That was a bit much, don't ya think?" And then he noticed the tears.

She wiped her eyes quickly but it didn't take a genius to figure out she'd been crying.

"Yeah, well I'm a psycho. Haven't you heard?" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"You're not a psycho you're just...different. Strong-willed and opinionated and you've got major attitude. I kinda like it," he said smiling.

Jade rolled her eyes at him but he could tell she was trying hard not to smile.

"So do you wanna tell me what that was all about?" he asked.

She wiped away her mascara soaked tears with her index fingers. "I just don't..._trust_ very easily, as you can probably tell."

"And why is that?"

"I don't know, because people are liars."

"People?"

"Guys, especially. They act all nice to your face and they lie and tell you what you want to hear and pretend they care about you, but then they turn around and stab you in the back anyway."

Beck imagined that maybe she'd been stabbed in the back by guys a few too many times already.

"Not every guy is like that Jade," he told her.

She scoffed. "Are you trying to tell me that you're different?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then why'd you have to go and flirt with that stupid girl then, huh?"

"I _wasn't _flirting! I was just being friendly."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Too friendly for your own good."

"Jade I promise you I have no intention of flirting with or seeing any other girls at the moment. No other girls except you okay?"

"Why should I believe you?"

He sighed, exasperated. "Because I'm _telling_ you and it's the truth. Now either you trust me or you don't."

Finally she backed down. "Fine then I trust you."

"Good because you can."

"And I'm sorry, I guess I shouldn't have freaked out on you like that. I'll _try_ not to do it again," she said.

But something told him that moments like that would still probably happen again no matter how hard she tried.

"We'll work on it," he told her.

Back then Beck was so sure of the kind of person that he was; he would have never done anything to hurt Jade. But now looking back he realized that maybe he wasn't this great boyfriend that he had always thought himself to be. He had been devoted to Jade for so long but now he had slipped up, majorly.

But maybe he wasn't entirely to blame in all this. He and Jade had been together for months now but she still had yet to get over the insane jealousy and mistrust she had towards him. He remembered how quickly Jade was to get upset and jump on Tori after that whole reality tv fake phone call debacle (she'd almost killed the girl). What was a relationship without trust anyhow? Sure now he didn't deserve her trust, but before he'd never done anything to make her think he was that lying type of boyfriend. If you call a person a cheater for long enough, after awhile maybe they actually turn into one.

But anyways, regardless of Jade having a part in all this it was still Beck's fault. He was the one who had done it and no amount of rationalizations could change that. He was guilty on all charges and his guilt made him want to avoid her like the plague. Avoiding her was a dumb move that probably made her even more suspicious of him, but he ended up spending less time with Jade and subsequently more time with Cat. Lately he and Cat seemed to actually be _literally_ inseparable.

But it didn't take long for a confrontation to occur. Beck and Cat were sitting together outside at one of the tables during lunch time when Jade approached them.

"Hi Jade," Cat tried greeting her but Jade didn't even look at her. Her eyes were fixed on Beck.

"Could you please make yourself scarce so that I can talk to _my _boyfriend. Alone," she said.

"Umm," Cat looked at Beck nervously. "Okay I guess I'll just go pee or something," she mumbled and got up and disappeared quickly.

Jade sat down across from him and folded her arms on the table, staring him down.

"Did you have something to say to me?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact I do. You don't answer my calls, you avoid me in the hallway and you've been awkward and quiet around me all day."

"Yeah well today's been kind of a weird day," he said.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to hide something."

"Jade c'mon. What exactly are you implying here?"

"Well I was _going_ to come over here and ask you to explain yourself but then a little birdy came round and told me something very interesting."

He raised his eyebrows. _A little birdy?_ "Jade maybe we should-"

"What is going on with you and Cat!" she blurted.

"I-wha..what would make you even say that?" he said, glancing around nervously at all the people who were now staring at them.

"I have my reasons Beck. I'm not an idiot." She stood up and grabbed ahold of his sleeve. "Now tell me right now, what is going on? Are you cheating on me with her?"

"Jade, please let go of me." He knew he couldn't lie to her anymore but he didn't want her finding out right now, not like this, not in front of all those people.

She held on to his shirt sleeve for a few seconds longer, staring him in the face trying to see if she could read him. But the fact that he neither confirmed, nor denied anything should have told her everything.

"Shouldn't we have this conversation later? Someplace where it's more private," he pleaded.

She sighed and let go. "Fine, whatever. But we _will_ finish this." And she walked off leaving him alone. He let out a relieved breath.

Beck had an idea as to who this "little birdy" Jade spoke of could be and his next move was to go find this person. As if right on cue, Tori Vega walked right past him.

He caught her by the arm. "Hey."

"Oh, hey Beck I didn't see you there."

"Did you tell Jade about what I told you the other day?" he asked.

She gave him sort of a deer-in-the-headlights look. Then she leaned in and lowered her voice and said, "You mean about you and Cat?"

"Umm yeah, did you tell her?"

"No! Of course not, I swear."

"Tori...seriously?"

"No, I really didn't. I didn't tell her what you told me.." She bit her lip, "But I might have said something else to that effect."

"Why would you do that?"

"She kept freaking out saying how suspicious she was and how she thought you were cheating on her, and she started accusing _me _of all people because apparently someone saw me leave your house the other day. So I just pointed out to her how ironic it was that _I'm _the one who always gets accused of stuff when Cat's the one that you seem to spend all your time with."

He frowned and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Beck. I was trying to clear my name and I just cracked."

There wasn't any point in him being upset with Tori because regardless it was his actions that got him put into this situation in the first place. He was angry still but he realized the person he was really mad at was himself.

"Don't worry about it," he told her.

"So Jade knows now?"

He shrugged. "Probably, but I still haven't told her myself yet. But I'm going to...today."

He would do it later in the day, after school. After the bell rang he waited for her at the front steps of the school. He stood and waited with a nervous feeling in his gut until he saw her walk out of the building. He took a couple deep breaths before he called her over.

They walked together in silence out to the parking lot and got into his car. At first neither of them said anything; Jade just sat with her arms crossed staring out the window while Beck stared down at the palms of his hands. But pretty soon the parking lot was deserted; students and teachers were all either still inside the building or they'd already left and gone home, so he and Jade were all alone.

Jade was the one who finally broke the silence. "Are we just gonna sit here like idiots and pretend we have nothing to talk about?"

He turned to face her somewhat uncomfortably and spilled. "I'm sorry Jade...I didn't mean for any of this to happen, but this thing with me and Cat just _did_, and it was totally out of the blue but I swear I never meant to hurt you. I really screwed up, and I'm sorry."

Her eyes went wide, she looked at him like she didn't even recognize him.

"S-so you really did cheat on me?"

"I'm sorry..."

"For how long?"

"I don't know, maybe a week or something but that's not-"

Jade hit him. She slapped him right across the face hard and he sat back, stunned. "..that's not important," he trailed off.

Jade was crying now, she covered her mouth with her pale hands. "You _bastard._ You've been cheating on me all this time and you never told me? God your such a friggin' coward!"

"Jade I'm sorry, I was gonna tell you.."

"Save it." She got out of the car and with her voice laced with bitterness said, "Don't call me ever again. Don't look at me, don't talk to me, don't even _think_ about me, or I swear to God I'll.." She slammed the car door shut and kicked it with her foot. The sound of her crying and cursing to herself trailed off in the background and then just like that she was gone.

After she stormed off, Beck stayed behind in the parking lot trying to remember how he'd ended up this way in the first place. _At least the worst is over_, he thought trying to comfort himself but it didn't really do him any good because he still felt like crap.

He was sitting in the car alone leaning against his arm on the window when there was a tap on the glass. He looked up and saw Cat wave to him; she presumed to get into the passenger seat beside him but her smile faded when she saw how upset he was.

"Are you okay Beck?" she asked.

He shook his head and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"It's Jade right?" she asked him in a quiet voice.

He nodded. "I don't really want to talk about it... What are you still doing here?"

"Well I was looking for you. I was gonna see if you wanted to do something after school, but...you look like you want to be left alone right now."

He thought about it and shook his head. "Actually, I don't think I'd mind some company right about now."

She smiled at him. "Can we go to the park?" she asked.

He shrugged. "We can go wherever you want to."

He put his key in the ignition, started up the car and they drove off together.

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><p><strong>Writing that beginning scene almost made me love Beck and Jade together, my oh my. <strong>

**I'm sort of on a roll with this story sooo expect an update very soon :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's been so long! I've been super busy with exams and projects and end of the year school stuff.**

**But anyways here's chapter five and I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[Treat us like ghosts.]<em>

_._

_._

_._

After their breakup Jade refused to talk to Beck, or anyone else in the group for that matter. She seemed to be distancing herself from him and anybody else that reminded her of him. Or maybe she just found better people to hang out with. He noticed her walking down the halls with these two other girls, Aimee and Natalie who seemed to have similar interests as her (eyeliner, playing with sharp objects, intimidating others, etc) and he figured that was just how she was preoccupying her time these days. He never saw Jade as the type of girl to form a "clique" or whatever, but he knew she needed some place to fit in since she wasn't talking to any of her old friends anymore. (Well surprisingly, she apparently still talked to Tori but that was it). Beck was able to get over the breakup pretty quickly though since he and Cat were together now. He still didn't like the way things ended with Jade, but now that things were the way they were with him and Cat, he realized that he couldn't see things having happened any other way. If he could go back in time, maybe he would have done things _a bit_ differently, like with the cheating for example. But regardless of that he realized the breakup was for the best and it probably would have happened eventually anyway, because maybe deep down he had always felt something for Cat. And now that he was finally acknowledging it he really felt more at ease with himself, and maybe even a little bit happy.

But even though she and him were happy together, Beck sometimes worried about Cat and the current state of her well-being. He told himself that she'd be fine as long as he was always around because he would never let anything bad happen to her, but still there were some things that he knew he couldn't protect her from, the main thing being herself. Sometimes he wished he could get inside her mind and figure out what it was that made her so nervous all the time, and so sensitive to every emotion, every feeling she felt. He wondered what it would be like seeing the world the way Cat did, where sometimes everybody looked like giants and somedays it felt like the sky was falling, and every time she felt something it was always ten times more intense than if it were a _normal_ person experiencing it. He'd always wondered about that, the curious case of Caterina Valentine.

Cat was definitely a different kind of girl, different than any girl he'd ever known before. But he'd always liked that about her because to him that made her special, even though some people didn't see it that way.

At school everyone had heard about Beck and Jade's breakup and by now they had gotten wind of who had caused it. So if things were awkward for Beck and Jade with people talking about them, things were probably twice as uncomfortable for Cat. It wasn't fair to her, the way she was being scrutinized and recieved the brunt of the criticism over something _he_ did to his girlfriend, but there was nothing he could do about it because in situations like those, people were gonna blame whoever they wanted to blame.

"I feel...like everyone is staring at me," she said to him.

He looked around; at first he hadn't noticed it but with all the rumors circulating about him cheating on Jade, people definitely turned to look whenever he and Cat walked down the halls together.

"Just ignore 'em," Beck told her. She gave him a hopeful smile and linked her arm around his, but then dropped it when she spotted Jade across the hall from them. Jade barely even looked at them though, just kept moving along with her eyes focused straight ahead.

"And she definitely hates me," Cat said, frowning.

Beck glanced in Jade's direction and watched her back as she walked, heels clacking hard against the floor. "Join the club," he muttered.

Beck and Cat shared the majority of their classes so they spent the day glued to each other, side by side facing the rest of the world together. Beck could handle the people staring at them and talking about them because he didn't really care what people thought of him. But Cat maybe cared _too_ much, and he noticed she was starting to let it get to her. At one point when they were walking to class together, a girl (Natalie, one of Jade's new friends) _accidentally_ bumped Cat on the shoulder when she was walking past her.

The girl apologized but the corners of her lips turned up slightly into a grin, giving the impression that she wasn't really sorry at all. Beck rolled his eyes.

"It's okay," Cat mumbled.

After that he noticed she was pretty much on edge the rest of the day. He tried to distract her and get her to ignore everyone else, but it didn't really work. At lunch when they went to sit at their usual table with Tori, Andre and Robbie, Cat hesitated before sitting down.

"It's okay," he told her. "Right guys?"

They all briefly exchanged awkward glances before nodding in agreement.

"Of course it is," Tori said.

"Yeah, don't worry Jade doesn't sit here anymore," Robbie pointed out, garnering him a jab in the shoulder by Andre's elbow. "Oww! Well she doesn't..."

Cat sat down next to Tori and they switched the conversation to a topic that didn't involve Jade, which Beck was grateful for.

Then Cat turned to Beck and told him that she'd accidentally gotten a regular milk, instead of chocolate. "Oh no," she pouted.

He offered to get it for her almost automatically (she sorta had that effect on him). And just to be polite, he asked if anyone else wanted anything too since he was already getting up.

"I'll have another juice-"

"Could you get me a spoon-"

"Fries please!"

He muttered, "Umm, alright then," but got up to oblige his friends' needs anyway. His trip to the school's concession stand and back didn't take long because the line was a lot shorter by then. But when he got back to the table to meet his friends, Cat had disappeared.

He set the tray down on the table. "Where did Cat go?"

Nobody responded.

"Guys?" he tried.

They all looked down at their trays. Tori started playing with her fork and Andre and Robbie started to pick at their food, not one of them meeting Beck's eyes. He started to get nervous.

"Cat sorta left," Andre finally admitted. "It was all Robbie's fault though."

"How was it my fault! Rex is the one who told her about it and then I _had_ to show it to her and-"

"Show her what?" Beck asked.

Tori placed a copy of the school's _Gossip Rag _or "newspaper" on top of the table and slid it over to him. "You guys made the front page."

Sure enough there was an old picture of him and Jade on the cover edited so that it appeared to be torn in half, but more importantly there was a photo of Cat with words like 'not so innocent' and 'homewrecker' plastered all over it. Beck fought the urge to crumple it up and toss it in the garbage right then and there. Didn't these people have better things to do with their lives? He sighed and slid the newspaper back over to Tori, not even bothering to read what was being said about them. He had already seen enough.

"Which way did she go?" he asked them. They all pointed in a general direction towards the parking lot so he sprinted off to go find her. It didn't take him long though. She was sitting crosslegged under a tree a couple yards away from the side entrance of the school.

"Alright, c'mon we gotta go back," he said holding out his hand to her.

She shook her head. "I don't want to go back," she told him. "Can you take me home?"

"But Cat, we've still got another period left."

She stood up from the ground and brushed off her skirt, then she gathered her bag and her books. "It's okay, I'll just walk home then." She kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you later Beck."

Maybe missing another class wouldn't be so bad..it wasn't like he hadn't done it before. "Alright, hold up," he said catching up to her.

They ended up going back to Cat's house. It was quieter than he remembered it. Normally Cat's house was filled with movement and energy with Cat's younger brother causing most of the commotion. But since nobody was home her house was calmer, devoid of sound and somehow that made it seem less colorful and less inviting. But then he'd gotten to her room and that feeling changed completely. He'd only seen her room once, maybe twice when they were kids but even now it was exactly how he remembered it. Her walls were pink just like her comforter and her carpet, but everything else, pillows and stuffed animals and furniture were all different colors. (She told him it reminded her of a strawberry pink cupcake with rainbow sprinkles). One portion of the wall right above her bed was devoted to pictures of Alejandra her old pet rabbit, but on the other side tacked onto a bulletin board were old and new pictures of all her friends. He noticed a picture of him and her at age ten at one of Cat's birthday parties wearing pointy hats and sharing a huge piece of cake, and he smiled feeling a bit nostalgic.

Cat told him that she was tired and really just felt like taking a nap.

He offered to leave and let her get some rest, but she told him that she wanted him to stay, so he ended up settling in next to her, putting his arm around her and letting her rest her head against his chest. She fell asleep that way, clutching one of her stuffed animals and after awhile he started to doze off too. But eventually they were woken up by the sound of someone walking up the stairs and entering the room. A tall woman with wavy dark hair, a made up face and tons of shopping bags greeted them.

They both sat up, groggy-eyed to see Rebecca Valentine, Cat's mother take off her sunglasses and perch them on top of her head. "Early day at school today?" she asked.

Cat rubbed her eyes and cleared her throat. "Umm, yeah. There was this huge outbreak of frogs in the science lab. It was so awful, they had to evacuate the building and call exterminators and everything."

Her mother seemed to deem this an acceptable explanation. "Oh, that's interesting," she said.

"I just feel bad for all the poor little frogs...I'm surprised the school hasn't called you yet."

Beck just looked at Cat and hid his smirk, surprised by this newfound ability to lie she apparently had. Cat had tons of hidden talents.

"You remember Beck, don't you mom?" Cat said.

She gave him a glance over and he waved awkwardly. She smiled. "Of course I do. You're the _handsome_ one."

Beck was used to hearing things like that so it didn't make him blush or anything. "Umm...thanks."

"Can he stay for dinner?" Cat asked.

Her mom thought about it for a second and then shrugged. "Yes, I suppose he can if he wants to. But I'm gonna go take a bath before I go pick up Michael from school, so you kids just be good and try not to destroy anything in my house," she said wagging her finger, and then she left, shutting the door behind her.

Cat turned to Beck. "So will you stay? I promise my family isn't that weird."

He shrugged. "Sure."

Dinner with Cat's family pretty much went like this:

Cat would start to talk, "So I was thinking that maybe I could do, like commercial auditions again like I did when I was a kid. I mean I only got one callback and it was for this really cute bubble gum commercial where I had to chew this gum, but I kept getting my lines wrong so I had to chew so much and it made my mouth hurt really bad...but anyways since then I've gotten _a lot _better at memorizing and now maybe I could try that out again. I mean I think it could be a really good start for me to become a real actress, y'know instead of just doing plays and stuff. What do you think mom?"

Then Mrs. Valentine reached over to wipe something off of Michael's face. "That sounds great dear...Michael, what has mommy always told you? Food is for _eating_, not playing."

It seemed like whenever Cat tried to say something her mother was always too distracted to really pay attention.

"I think it's a good idea, I mean you gotta start somewhere right?" Beck added.

"Yes, that's what everyone says...and how is this whole acting thing working out for you?" Mrs. Valentine asked him.

"Well, I-"

"Beck's been in a movie before," Cat said smiling proudly. "He takes his acting very seriously."

"Well, I'm sure he does and he should...Michael you have to eat your food, _all_ of it," she scolded.

The boy crossed his arms. "It's gross. I hate vegetarian shepards pie."

"Well I don't care if you hate it."

That argument went back and forth and seemed to be getting nowhere.

At some point in the middle of dinner, Cat's dad rushed through the door wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase. "Sorry, I'm late.." But just as quickly as he appeared, he was gone. He kissed his wife on the forehead, waved to the kids and disappeared into a different room.

"Dinner's on the stove," Cat's mother called out to his back as he retreated. "Cat, sweetie could you go in the kitchen and fix your father a plate?"

"Okay." Cat rushed off to the kitchen.

Michael tossed his fork onto the floor 'accidentally' but Cat's mom gave him a stern look and he quickly retrieved it. "So Beck...how are things with you and that dark-haired girl?" she asked him, just making conversation.

"I'm sorry?"

"The really pretty one with the great complexion. You guys did the talent show together last year, I believe."

"Oh you mean Jade-"

Cat emerged from the kitchen with a plate of food in her hands, but at the mention of Jade's name she completely dropped it down onto the hardwood floor, shattering the plate and making a huge mess. Michael screamed at the noise of the crash and Cat covered her ears immediately like she had been expecting him to do that.

"I'm sorry," Cat said, nervously.

Mrs. Valentine just closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, visibly frustrated. "Cat darling, remember that little talk we had? About how you're supposed to be _helping_, and not causing more problems?"

"I know, I know and I'm sorry. I'll clean it up, I promise."

"I'll help you," Beck offered, starting to get up.

But Mrs. Valentine put her hand up. "No, it's fine I'll take care of it. Just make sure your brother finishes eating his food."

The rest of dinner was spent without any real conversation except for Michael's protests against eating the 'horrible vegetarian crap' they were trying to feed him. Cat's dad never sat down to eat with them, but Beck could hear him talking in a different room, presumably handling business with a client. At the end of the meal when it was time for him to leave, Beck sort of felt emotionally drained from all the commotion in her house. He imagined what Cat felt like, dealing with this practically every day of her life.

"I'm sorry about them, I thought they'd be on their best behavior if you were here," Cat said as she walked him out to his car.

"You don't have to apologize for your family, Cat. They're not that bad."

"Did they make you feel like you were invisible too?" she asked him.

He thought about the way Cat's mom got distracted everytime either of them tried to talk to her. And how her dad probably didn't even notice there was an extra guest at the dinner table.

"No, not at all," he said. He wrapped his arms around her neck, resting them ontop of her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "So I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

She nodded. He turned around and opened the front door of his car but Cat grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. She pressed her lips against his and he smiled, returning the kiss.

"Beck you're like the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me," she told him.

He smiled somewhat shyly and looked away. "Stop it."

"No, I'm serious you're like the sweetest guy. You're so nice to me and you make me feel so special. And you _don't_ think I'm weird."

"That's because you're not."

She turned away and leaned back against his car, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I know it was wrong of me to take you away from Jade, but...I just couldn't help it. I really like you."

"I really like you too." He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the car on his shoulder, facing her. "But you didn't steal me away from anyone. Last time I checked I was a human being, not an object."

"You know what I mean. People think I'm a homewrecker." She frowned.

He laughed. "That's so ridiculous. It's not like Jade and I were married or anything."

"But still."

"Look this whole thing is gonna blow over soon and it'll all be fine. I'm sure of it."

"Do you really believe that?"

He nodded. "Yeah I do. And don't worry about what other people think of you because none of that matters."

He gave her hand a squeeze and kissed her on the lips one last time. Before he left he told her that she didn't have to worry because he was always gonna have her back. No matter what happened she'd always have at least one person to fall back on.

She smiled and thanked him for being so good to her, but she didn't really need to thank him. It was something he was always going to do.


	6. Chapter 6

**I think Ariana's birthday is tomorrow (June 26th) so everybody go on twitter or tumblr and wish her a happy birthday! XD**

**And with that I give you a brand new chapter. I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[when everything falls apart.]<em>

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_._

_._

It was essentially impossible for Beck and Jade to avoid seeing each other completely. They still had classes together and they still walked the halls at the same time so it was only a matter of time before something bad happened, before one of them ended up seeing something they didn't want to see. And since Jade had gotten the short end of the stick during their breakup, of course that person would end up being her.

It started one morning when Beck saw a thin girl with a short, blonde haircut and a leather jacket leaning in close to Cat and whispering something in her ear. The girl happened to be Jade's friend Aimee and whatever she was telling her, he assumed couldn't have been good. Afterwards, Aimee patted her on the shoulder with a satisfied look on her face and then she walked off casually, leaving Cat behind looking slightly confused.

It wasn't until later that day that he found out what she had said to her. Cat approached him while he was putting books into his locker. "What's up?" he asked, standing up to face her.

She put her hand on his neck, reached down the collar of his shirt and pulled out the necklace he was wearing and examined it. "Is this the one that Jade bought for you?"

He nodded slowly, unsure of whether that was a bad thing or a really bad thing. "Yeah, it is..."

"Oh." Cat's face set into a worried frown.

"Don't get upset. It's not like that okay?" He tried to explain to her that it wasn't a big deal. That he'd had the necklace for months and it was just something that he wore all the time as a force of habit, like his favorite jacket or that watch his uncle gave him for his birthday last year. He still wore it sometimes but it didn't have anything to do with Jade personally, at least not anymore.

"I'm not upset," she told him but he didn't believe her. Whatever Aimee had said to her must have gotten inside her head and he would bet anything that it wasn't good.

"Do you want me to take it off? If it bothers you I will."

She thought about it and then shook her head. "No, you don't have to, it's just.."

"What?"

And then she told him. "Aimee said she knew you'd be wearing it, and she said I'd better watch out because 'once a cheater, always a cheater'."

He sighed and slammed his locker shut a little too hard, making Cat flinch. "Sorry."

"Are you mad?" she asked him.

"Not at you," he said. But it bothered him that now Cat would probably think that she couldn't trust him. After what he did to Jade he promised himself he'd never hurt a girl like that ever again, _especially_ Cat. "Look, whatever you want me to do to prove to you that you can trust me, I'll do it just tell me."

"No, I do trust you," she said quickly. "I trust you more than I trust anyone. I just hate that Aimee was right about the stupid necklace. She acts like she knows _everything_."

"Well obviously she doesn't know how I feel about you," he said. He took off the necklace and put it in his pocket, and then he moved closer to her and touched her cheek. Cat smiled and started to blush.

He kissed her on the lips once and she giggled.

He put his arm around her waist and kissed her again, both of them sort of forgetting about where they were and during that time Tori may or may not have came up and told them to "please get a room", he doesn't quite remember. But he didn't stop kissing Cat until after the bell rang, telling them they were already late for class. At that point there were only three people in the hallway, but after Cat left it was just him and the other person, a girl standing across the hall from him staring him down, shooting daggers with her eyes. _Jade_. She gave him a disgusted look and she walked away.

And then his guilt trip began. He'd completely forgotten about the possibility of her seeing them kiss. He knew it would've happened eventually but he hadn't wanted to force it on her like that. And if there was anything he could've done to spare her from it he would've but he just hadn't been thinking.

He'd expected Jade to be pissed and he imagined she was, rightfully so. But what happened afterwards was surprising to say the least. The next time he saw her she didn't look mad, just strangely calm. And she did something he never thought she would. She approached him and it totally caught him off guard because she wasn't pretending like he didn't exist like she normally did. Instead she walked right up to him and put her hand on his jacket.

"Jade, what are you-"

She kissed him right on the lips. It took him a second to register what was happening, to be able to think clearly. At first he didn't understand why she was doing it, but then he looked in the distance and saw Cat watching them and he knew exactly what Jade was doing. It was a perfectly calculated move, _planned _sabotage. Jade gave Cat a look that said "let's see if you like how it feels," but at that moment Cat wasn't looking at Jade, she was looking at _him._ Before he could do or say anything she ran off.

"What did you do that for?" he asked, infuriated. But Jade just rolled her eyes and left him without saying a word.

She was obviously playing games, trying to get back at him or Cat or probably both of them. And from the looks of it she had succeeded because with that kiss she managed to drive a huge wedge between him and Cat.

Cat made it clear that she didn't want to talk to him after that, she didn't even want to look at him. He tried to explain that it was all a misunderstanding and that Jade kissed _him_, but everytime he approached her she either ran away or ignored him completely. She was obviously hurt and that worried him because he knew Cat wasn't so good at rationally handling situations like those. She was probably jumping to all kinds of conclusions.

So Beck went to the only person he could think of for help, the one person who seemed to always have his back when he needed her.

"Tori can we talk?" he said walking to catch up to her.

She turned around and said, "Having girl troubles?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well, there's a rumor going around that you and Jade kissed and you and Cat haven't been attached at the hip today so...I figured."

"Jade kissed _me._"

"Right." She put her hand on his shoulder. "And lemme guess, you want your good old pal Tori to help you?"

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. She won't talk to me."

Tori shrugged her shoulders. "Well, eventually she'll realize she has to talk to you. She probably just needs some time, I mean you know how Cat can be."

Beck knew exactly how Cat could be and that's what he was afraid of. "Yeah but I'm worried about her though. You didn't see her face when it happened."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I didn't do anything, it was Jade. She just kissed me out of nowhere before I could stop her, and then Cat was standing there and before I could say anything to her she just ran off, and she was really upset and I haven't talked to her since it happened."

"That...totally sounds like something Jade would do. But don't worry about Cat, I'll talk to her the next chance I get." She touched his arm reassuringly and said, "Everything is going to be okay."

He wanted to believe her but he'd feel better after everything was said and done. That day he must have tried calling Cat a billion times and he sent her a bunch of text messages but she never replied. And after school he stopped by her house but nobody answered when he rang the doorbell. She was avoiding him and he started to get even more anxious about it. But there was nothing he could do except wait and hope that maybe Tori could get through to her.

But unfortunately, the next day at school things appeared to have taken a turn for the worse. When he finally caught up to Cat, she was sitting on the floor with Tori in front of Tori's locker, visibly upset about something. Tori had her arms wrapped around her and Cat was curled up against her, her face hidden and buried in her chest.

"What's going on? Is she alright?" he asked.

Through a muffled tone he could hear Cat telling him to go away and saying that she didn't want to talk to him. There was sadness in her voice, he knew she was crying. Tori looked up at him and mouthed the words '_I'm sorry'_.

He knelt down next to them. "Cat, please listen to me. I'm really, really sorry. What you saw between me and Jade was nothing, alright she kissed me."

Cat sniffled.

He tried again, "I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that."

"This isn't about Jade," Tori told him.

"What?"

Just then over the intercom Cat was called down to the guidance counselor's office. Tori let go of her and Cat wiped her eyes, her face streaked with makeup. She stood up and he did too.

"Will you please talk to me?" he begged. He tried to touch her but she pulled away, out of his reach.

"No," she stated firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to see you anymore," she said, then she cupped her hand over her mouth like she couldn't believe that just came out of her mouth.

Beck felt a thickness growing in his throat but he swallowed it down. "Really?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry, I have to go." Cat backed away from him and left, leaving him standing there confused and hurt.

He turned to Tori and then she explained to him what was going on. She told him how she walked to Cat's house early that morning so that they could walk to school together and hopefully talk about things, but Cat was acting different than usual. She was quiet and withdrawn, only answering with short sentences whenever Tori spoke to her. She did get her to tell her that she wasn't mad at what Beck did, she was just really, really hurt by it...But then when they got to school something really messed up happened. If Tori could have protected Cat from it somehow she would have.

Somebody had vandalised Cat's locker, written a word on it in big letters with red spray-paint (the word that starts with 'S' and rhymes with what). And when Cat saw it she broke down, she let Tori hold her and she started crying in front of everyone. People stared and whispered around them but one person in particular, Jade, looked on with strange curiousity.

Beck was upset when Tori told him what happened, but mostly because of how helpless he felt. There wasn't anything he could do to help Cat because for whatever reason she was set on shutting him out completely. Maybe she blamed him for what happened, he didn't know, but as long as she was refusing to talk to him he realized there was nothing he could do for her.

He had to keep trying though, he wouldn't give up that easily. Cat had gone home early that day so right after school he and Tori stopped by her house.

Mrs. Valentine answered the door when they rang the doorbell. "Hi Beck...Trina," she greeted warmly.

Tori frowned. "Umm, it's Tori."

"Oh, right of course. Can I help you guys?"

"Yeah, is Cat home? We were kinda hoping we could talk to her," Beck said.

Cat's little brother, Michael ran up beside his mother and she put her arm around him. "Cat isn't really seeing anyone at the moment...I'm sorry."

"Is she alright?" Beck asked.

Mrs. Valentine sighed, "Not really, not after what happened at school today. But I'm sure she'll be fine eventually, she just wants some time to herself right now. Don't worry, trust me she does this all the time. She'll lock herself up in her room for a while and spend some time alone and in couple of days she'll come right out of it, good as new. Right Mikey?"

The boy nodded staring down at his light up sneakers.

"Okay," Beck said, though he really didn't believe that. "Could you give her a message for me then?"

"I could do that."

"Just tell her that I'm sorry for what I did and that I'll do anything to fix it..if she'll let me."

Mrs. Valentine smiled at them briefly, said "Okay," and she stood at the doorway and watched them leave.

They got into his car and put on their seatbelts. Then Tori turned to him and said, "So who do you think painted Cat's locker like that? Word on the street is that Jade did it."

When she said it he immediately thought better of it. "Really? I doubt it. That's not really Jade's style."

Tori scoffed. "Being vicious and cruel isn't Jade's style?"

"I mean doing it behind someone's back and not owning up to it. Jade's more of an 'in your face' type of bully," he said. "And besides, she's not completely heartless...she knows how sensitive Cat is."

"I don't know Beck, I thought so too but apparently there's a ton of evidence against her. Like okay the security cameras were screwed with so they couldn't use the tapes, but somebody saw her hanging around the school grounds after hours. And we all know she's got the motive.."

"So people really think she did it?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Who else do you think would want to hurt Cat?"

He really couldn't think of anyone specifically other than Jade. She was the only one who seemed to have a personal vendetta towards Cat, and she had proved when she'd kissed him that she wanted to get back at her. But somehow, still in his mind he just couldn't see Jade doing it.

The next couple of days Cat never came to school, and after school whenever he tried to see her she was either "taking a nap at the moment" or she "wasn't feeling very well." He started to get really worried. Being away from her and not being able to at least see that she was alright was starting to drive him a bit crazy. And her mom didn't seem to have a clue as to what was going on with her.

He refused to give up though, he kept trying.

"Alright Beck, this is the third time this week. You certainly are persistent," Cat's mom told him after he'd showed up, yet again.

He stood on her porch with his bag slung over his shoulder and his hand in his pocket. "Yeah I know, I'm sorry. It's just kind of important. I really need to talk to her."

She looked behind her and then stepped aside, opening the door wider. "Well she still hasn't left her room, but maybe you can talk some sense into her."

"Thanks."

"Just try not to upset her."

He entered the house and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, knocked lightly on her door but there was no response. "Cat? It's me, Beck."

Slowly he opened the door and stepped inside, expecting to see her sitting on her bed or anywhere in sight but the room appeared to be empty. The lights were off and Cat was nowhere to be seen.

He heard a noise coming from the closet so he walked towards it, slid the doors open and there she was. She was sitting on the floor next to a giant stuffed bear, crosslegged with Harry, her pet guinea pig in her lap. She smiled up at Beck and then back down at the small animal and said, "Look Harry, Beck's here."

He wasn't quite sure what to make of this. "Cat, what are you doing in the closet?"

Cat's smile faded from her lips and she looked up at him with big, brown scared eyes. "I'm hiding," she said.

"Hiding from what?"

"Everything."

Harry started to squirm in her lap so Beck knelt down and said, "Maybe we should put Harry away for a bit." She handed him over and Beck carried him to the glass tank by her nightstand and carefully placed him inside. Then he walked back over to the closet and sat down next to her, in between her and the giant stuffed bear.

"I thought you were still mad at me," he said.

She looked down and shook her head.

"I'm really sorry about what happened. That kiss, it was all Jade..."

"I know. Tori told me."

"Then why have you been avoiding me? And why are you hiding out in your room like this?"

Cat closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him. "I can't tell you, you wouldn't understand if I tried..." He could tell by the way her voice cracked that she was starting to get upset. "You should leave before something bad happens."

"Alright if you really want me to go then I will, " he told her.

But then she started to cry. She curled her knees up to her chest and began sobbing softly into the backs of her hands, wiping her tears as they fell. Beck wondered if she had been up here crying like this for days all the while her parents had no clue what was going on. He watched her cry and shake uncontrollably, and slowly he began to understand what was happening. A feeling of deja vu washed over him and suddenly he and Cat were backstage in the Hollywood Arts dressing room again and they were surrounded by broken glass, Cat's hand covered in blood and her begging him not to tell anyone.

He pulled her closer to him. She fell against his chest and he began gently raking her hair back out of her face. Cat bunched up the fabric of his shirt with her fist and she cried into it.

He just held her tighter.

"It's gonna be okay," he said, just like he'd said last time even though deep down he knew...

And he kept his arms clasped tight around her until he felt her breathing slow down, until she stopped shaking and there appeared to be no tears left for her to cry. Afterwards his shirt was a dampened mess but he didn't really care.

"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. I didn't mean what I said before," She sniffled and wiped her face with her sleeve. "about not wanting to see you anymore."

"You don't have to apologize," he said.

"Did I hurt your feelings?"

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about me alright?" he said.

"Okay." She rested her head on his shoulder. And the last thing she said was, "Beck if something bad ever happens would you take care of Harry for me?"

"Yeah," he said figuring she meant in case she ended up having to go back to the hospital again. He dreaded the thought of that but he knew it was a possibility.

Beck let himself settle back against the wall of the closet figuring he'd be staying there with her for a while. He didn't notice when she closed her eyes. But eventually she became very, very still.

"Hey, Cat?"

He touched her face, moved her hair out of the way and tucked it behind her ear so that he could look at her but she didn't move at all. He moved and shifted his body and hers went limp against him so that he had to literally hold her up.

The panic set in when he realized she was unconscious.

And then he saw the pill bottles.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the cliffhanger...<strong>

**Reviews pretty please? I promise I will update soon :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**This is probably the longest chapter I've written so far but hopefully that's a good thing right? And some of you have written really nice reviews and they really make my day and inspire me to keep writing this, so thanks! Keep doing it :)**

**I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[Those times when parents just don't understand.]<em>

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They all sat together in the hospital waiting room. Beck, Tori, Robbie and Andre sat side by side, slouched in their seats waiting for any news about how Cat was doing and whether or not she was going to wake up.

Mr. Valentine, still dressed in his work clothes having come straight from the office, came in along with Michael and sat down next to Beck. It was obvious that Michael was in one of his moods. He had to practically be dragged into the room and when they got there he refused to sit in a chair. He crossed his arms and plopped right down on the floor and then proceeded to roll around, spinning clockwise on his back. "I'm hungry, I wanna candy bar," he whined.

"For godssake Michael, get up _right now_," Mr. Valentine hissed.

It was getting late and after everything that happened that day, Beck was feeling extremely tired to the point where he was starting to get a headache so he was a bit on edge. In his mind the only thing he could see was Cat and everything else that happened being replayed over and over. He kept reliving that moment when he saw the pills and realized what she'd done. And the fear that came with it. He was so scared, and he still was now.

Michael started humming loudly and kicking at the floor, his shoes making loud squeaking noises against the linoleum. His father scolded him and begged him to behave himself.

"Why don't you try ignoring him," Beck said.

Mr. Valentine turned to him, "Excuse me?"

Beck's headache was really starting to wear him down so he wasn't thinking clearly. He just kept talking. "If he throws a tantrum and you give him what he wants...which is _attention_, then he's just gonna keep doing it. It's called negative reinforcement."

Beside him Tori's eyes went wide and she jabbed him in the arm with her elbow.

"And who the hell are you?" he replied, probably annoyed by some kid trying to tell him how to parent.

Mrs. Valentine appeared from the hallway and put her hand on her husband's shoulder, easing the tension. "Darling, that's _Beck_. You remember don't you? These are all Cat's friends," she said gesturing to the rest of the group.

And Mr. Valentine turned to look at them as if he just realized they were all sitting there. "Right, of course. Thank you all for coming."

"No problem," Andre said.

And Tori said, "Anything for Cat."

"Well I'm assuming my husband hasn't told you the good news. The doctors say that we got her here just in time and _physically_...she's going to be alright_._"

They all collectively sighed in relief.

"Is she awake?" Beck asked.

"I'm afraid not. And Dr. Warren says it could be awhile before she wakes up so, it's alright if you all want to go on home. When she does wake up I'll be sure to let her know you guys were here."

They exchanged glances. "We don't mind staying," Beck said.

"That's sweet but it's not necessary. It's a school night and I wouldn't want to keep you."

Tori said to Beck, "We could always come back tomorrow, I guess."

The waiting room was practically empty now and it was getting late anyway.

"Alright," he said. Tori linked her arm with his and the four of them exited the hospital.

It was chilly and dark outside, already past 10 o'clock and they were all pretty tired.

"So Cat's gonna be just fine," Tori was saying to herself. "Everything's gonna be just..." she trailed off, squinting at someone in the distance. And then she said something startling. "Hi Jade."

Jade approached slowly with heavy footsteps. She looked back and forth between him and Tori and then the rest of the group. Tori instinctively let go of Beck's arm like she always used to, even though it wasn't really necessary anymore.

"What are you doing here?" Beck asked.

She crossed her arms. "I came as soon as I heard," she mumbled. "How is she?"

Robbie and Andre exchanged a glance, and then looked at Beck waiting to see what was gonna happen.

"She hasn't woken up yet, but she's gonna be okay," Beck replied.

Jade nodded.

And then there was an awkward pause of silence.

Andre cleared his throat and then finally Tori said, "Well..I guess I'd better go call my mom and see if she'll give us a ride home. Andre? Robbie?"

They both nodded and followed suit as she walked away. So that now it was just Beck and Jade, standing together in the street between the hospital and the parking lot.

"So who told you?" he asked her.

"Tori texted me." As soon as the others left Jade let go of her hard exterior completely. "Look, you don't have to sit there and pretend you don't hate me, okay I know this is all my fault."

"I don't hate you, Jade." He admitted.

"And that's exactly what your problem is. You're way too nice. You should hate me after what I did to your..._girlfriend_, or whatever_._"

Beck sat down on the curb. "I think Cat's problems have more to do with herself than they do with you, so to be fair you can't take all the credit."

"It's still my fault though," she said, stepping closer carefully before finally sitting down next to him.

"Jade be honest with me. Did you paint the word slut on Cat's locker?" he asked.

And she looked him in the eyes and said, "No, I didn't."

He held her gaze. "Good...because everyone thought I was crazy for defending you but I knew you wouldn't have done that."

"But I did kiss you on purpose," she said. "I didn't know what to do when I saw you kissing Cat that day. I could handle seeing you holding hands and talking and laughing together, but that kiss...it made me sick. I'm sorry."

"I get it, you were upset."

"I was really mad, at you mostly and I wanted to get back at you. But I went and vented to my so called 'friends' and they kept telling me how I needed to get back at you _and_ her."

"So you tried to break us up? And then they were the ones who painted Cat's locker," he stated as a fact. It all made sense to him now.

"I'm 99.9% sure it was them, even though they won't admit it."

He found that to be very screwed up. Those girls didn't even know Cat and yet they were so comfortable with being malicious towards her. And they obviously had no clue what the reprecussions of their actions were gonna be.

"You shouldn't hang out with people like that, Jade. You're better than that," he told her.

She smiled bitterly. "Well, if I'm so great then why did you cheat on me?"

"Jade, c'mon-"

"No, actually I really want to know. And why Cat? I mean what makes her so special?"

And suddenly Beck became aware of how tired he really was. He was not in the mood to deal with all of this. "What do you want me to say? You're just gonna get mad no matter what I tell you."

"You're right about that because I don't think I'll ever forgive you for what you did."

"I'm really, _really_ sorry. I don't know what to do or how to make it up to you, so the only thing I can do is apologize."

She crossed her arms like she always did when she was being stubborn. "Apologize all you want."

"Jade, please.." But eventually he just gave up and changed the subject. He felt like he was about ready to pass out any second and he just wanted to get home, back to his trailer and sleep. "How did you get here anyway?"

"I took a bus," she said.

"Oh. So you need a ride home then?"

She shrugged. "Whatever."

And they drove in silence, with nothing but the sound of passing cars around them. He could tell that Jade was upset by the way she sat slumped over in her seat, with her arms still crossed together. But she kept her eyes fixed downwards as if she was deep in thought about something. At some point right before they turned onto the street that led to her house, she turned to him and said, "Beck?"

"Yeah."

"You were with Cat when it happened...after she took the pills."

They stopped at a red light and he turned to look at her. Then he explained, "She fainted in my arms and I had to call the police. Her mom was downstairs so I had to tell her everything...I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life," he said.

Jade didn't say anything back. And they spent the rest of the ride to her house avoiding eye contact. Beck couldn't help but wonder what was going through her head but she wasn't giving anything away. When they finally pulled up to her driveway, she seemed to have changed her demeanor a bit. She softened and looked at him almost like she felt sorry for him.

"I get it now," she said.

"Get what?"

"I'm gonna back off of you and Cat, and let you guys be together or whatever."

He wasn't really expecting her to be this understanding. "Okay...and why the sudden change of heart?" he asked.

And she said, "Because I get it now. You and I broke up and it sucked and I cried for days over it, but now...I realized that I'm gonna be okay without you. Not now, but eventually, I will. But Cat...she wouldn't be. She needs you, Beck."

"Wow," he said.

Every now and then Jade would surprise him by doing the opposite of what he thought she would do and being mature.

"Yeah, well."

"Umm, thanks I guess."

"This doesn't mean that I forgive you for cheating on me though."

And he understood that. "Yeah, but I really am sorry about that. I'll never stop being sorry, Jade. It was messed up and wrong and you didn't deserve it."

Beck knew that Jade really did love him and he'd be lying if he said that he didn't love her too...back then, but things were just different now. He _felt _differently and he couldn't change that, even if he wanted to. Cat had always had a place in his heart and now that place was just growing, bigger and bigger everyday. He couldn't help it.

Jade touched his arm before she got out of the vehicle, like that was her way of telling him goodbye. And with that they finally ended things for good and his life had gotten a little less complicated.

But there was still a problem at hand that he needed to get sorted out, and right now it was lying in a hospital bed, miles away from him. The next day at school Beck's mind was preoccupied to say the least. All around him people talked and words went past him but none of it registered because all he could think about was Cat. He was supposed to do a scene in Sikowitz's class but he couldn't remember any of his lines so he just sat it out and took a zero. And the rest of the day seemed to drag on forever. But afterwards he was able to drive straight to the hospital, where he knew she'd be waiting, expecting him.

And when he entered the room she was sitting up in the hospital bed finally awake. They locked eyes and he waved nervously at her and her mother, who was sitting in the chair beside her, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Hello, Mrs. Valentine. Hi Cat," he said to both of them.

Mrs. Valentine nodded to him and Cat gave him a small smile. Then she turned to her mother and said, "Mom could you go to the cafeteria and get me another juice please?"

"Sure, sweetheart." She got up and left the two of them alone and as soon as she was gone Beck walked over to Cat and kissed her on the forehead.

"How are you?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I've been better."

Beck settled into the chair next to her. "Cat, you nearly scared me to death. What the hell happened?"

She knew what he was referring to. "I don't know...I guess I wasn't thinking. I don't even remember taking all those pills," she said.

But there had to be a reason why she almost _killed_ herself. She couldn't just brush it off as 'I don't know' and 'I wasn't thinking clearly'. Was it because of Jade and the girls at school who were so set on making her life miserable? Or was any of this his fault? Maybe it was everything built up over time and she just decided she couldn't take it anymore. Beck started to feel guilty because he realized that somehow he did have a part in all this. He should've tried harder to reach out to her before this happened. He should've gotten to her sooner and stopped her from doing it.

"I told everyone it was an accident," she admitted. "The medicine I take prescribed by my doctor isn't supposed to be taken with other pills because it's dangerous...but I told them I forgot all about that and took some of my mom's sleeping pills anyway. That's why I overdosed in case you were wondering."

He watched her face carefully and took all of this in. "So you lied..."

"I didn't want to lie."

"Then why did you?"

"Because telling the truth would've hurt them. And I didn't want to hurt them like I hurt you, Beck. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just please don't ever do anything like that again," he said. "You really scared me."

"I won't I promise."

He sighed. "What did the doctor say?"

"They made me talk to a psycho...a psyche-"

"Psychiatrist?"

"Yeah, whatever. That. And I did a 'psychiatric evaluation'. I've done so many of those and they always ask you the same questions."

"Well what did they say? What's gonna happen?"

She frowned and looked at him solemnly. "They said that it's probably best if I don't go home right away. That means after I leave this hospital I have to go back to Evergreen."

His face matched hers. "For how long?"

"I don't know.."

It could be weeks or it could be months before they'd get to be together again. Beck hated the idea of her being locked away like that all over again, away from her friends and the people who really cared about her. Who was gonna cheer her up when she was sad or talk her down when she was in one of her moods? And who was gonna love her the way that he did? Certainly not the nurses and doctors at Evergreen.

"I messed everything up didn't I?" she said.

"It's not your fault. You couldn't help it, you were..._sick_," he said, unable to think of a better term.

"I wish I wasn't though. I hate it when I feel that way. When I'm '_sick' _everything feels so awful and it's like nothing I do can make it better. It's really scary. It makes me want to just cry and sleep forever.."

He scooted closer to her in his chair. "Cat, you just have to understand that those feelings aren't real. They don't last forever right?"

She shook her head. "No, they don't."

"See," he said. "And what makes them go away?"

She smiled, slightly. "You make them go away. I feel better when I'm with you."

And he smiled back, feeling a light warm sensation in his chest. And he took both of her hands in his. "Then that's how we're gonna fix it. We're gonna be together, always and I don't care what happens. Or what anyone says." He held her hands up to his lips and kissed them, and she smiled wider. He kissed them again and she giggled.

Mrs. Valentine entered the room as he was doing it and she cleared her throat, subsequently ending their moment. She looked back and forth between the two of them uncomfortably, but then smiled tightly.

Beck let go of Cat's hands and sat back in his chair.

"Sorry to interrupt..." she said. "But Cat, you've got more visitors."

Tori, Andre, Robbie and Rex all filed into the room after her and Cat lit up like a Christmas tree. Andre was holding a balloon that said 'Get Well Soon'.

"Hi, guys," Cat said smiling brightly. They all greeted her and Beck and took turns giving Cat hugs. And the room was filled with good energy again, with any tension there between them and Cat's mom dissolved rapidly like smoke.

But pretty soon she told them it was time for them to leave. And when Beck was leaving she stopped him outside in the hallway and said she wanted to speak to him.

Beck wasn't quite sure what to expect but he decided to play it cool. "I'm really glad Cat's okay," he said.

"Yes, we all are...but, Beck I see what's going on here," she said.

"I'm sorry?"

"With you and my daughter. I saw the way you were looking at her, dear I'm not blind."

He thought about how to respond to that and spoke honestly. "I care about her Mrs. Valentine."

"That's very sweet, and I'm sure you do. And it's understandable because you're both so young and Cat's a very beautiful girl...but she's also very special, Beck. There are some things you need to understand," she told him.

He was confused. "Like what?"

"Like how relationships come with a lot of complications and they can be stressful, especially for someone like my daughter. And I just don't think having one is what's best for her right now. I'm sure you can understand that."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I follow. You want me to stop seeing her?"

She sighed. "Look at everything that's happened so far and look at where she is now."

"And you think that's my fault?"

"Well if I'm not mistaken this all happened as a result of bullying over something that _you_ did."

He frowned. In the counselors office Cat had told Lane everything that happened and apparently Lane must have told Cat's mom.

"High school drama is silly but it can be very damaging, especially to someone as sensitive as Cat."

"I never meant for her to get hurt."

"Of course you didn't... Look, you're a nice kid and everything but I have to do to what's best for my daughter. You don't have to worry about her anymore alright? She's gonna be safe back in the facility with doctors who are going to take care of her."

_Yeah, so you don't have to_ he thought.

He didn't say anything for awhile, he just stood there taking all of it in. So Mrs. Valentine took that to mean that the message was getting across.

"So we're clear on things now?"

"Yeah, crystal," he said stoically.

She smiled and said, "I'm glad you understand. And you can relay this message on to the rest of her friends too by the way," and she walked back to her daughter's room, leaving him standing there unsure of what to do next.

Apparently his next move was to go complain to his friends about it.

After seeing Cat they all went to go get ice cream. They were sitting outside at one of the tables and everyone else was enjoying their treats, but Beck wasn't really in the mood for ice cream.

"She really said that to you?" Tori asked, disbelief written all over her face.

He nodded.

"Dang, that's messed up," Andre noted.

"I know," Beck said. "And I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

And suddenly 'Rex' shouted, "Oh please..MAN UP!" Beck raised his eyebrows.

"He's right," Robbie said, referring to the puppet on his arm. "Just because Cat's parents want you to stay away from her, doesn't mean you have to listen."

"I don't know..."

Andre patted him on the back. "Oh c'mon, you guys could do the whole 'Romeo and Juliet' thing."

Tori laughed.

"I meant that I don't know how that would even be possible. Her mom made it sound like she was going away for good this time. I'm probably not gonna be able to see her at all...and I don't think any of us are."

Tori slammed her hands down on the table in frustration. "That doesn't make any sense at all! What did we do that was so terrible?"

He shrugged.

She stood up and slapped her hand down on his shoulder. "Beck, you _have _to do something. You can't just let them lock her away like that! You have to stand up for what's right and you need to do it soon...for Cat. You need to fight for your love."

Andre and Robbie stared at her for a second like she was crazy before nodding and deciding that she was right.

"The girl's right," Andre said.

"Yeah, man it's all up to you," Robbie agreed.

Beck understood where they were coming from but he just couldn't see what exactly it was that they expected him to do. If Cat's parents didn't want him around their daughter then they were probably gonna make sure that he wasn't at whatever costs. There was no way of getting around it, especially while she was being institutionalized. He was practically powerless.

He did try calling a few times and he showed up at the hospital again, but by that time she was already gone, transferred to the new place she would be staying. He'd left feeling defeated, blaming himself for being too late. He at least wanted to say goodbye to her.

It was awhile before he got to see her again, like he'd predicted, and most of his time without her was spent moping around. Everyone got tired of his sucky attitude, but he couldn't help it. He was worried about Cat and he just needed to see with his own eyes that she was okay. He wanted to hug her and talk to her for a bit and let her know that he hadn't forgotten about her, and that he meant what he said about wanting to be with her always, even though he wasn't really showing it right now. And to be honest he mostly just missed her. He missed her ditzy, high-pitched laugh, and her ridiculous jokes and her red cupcake hair. He missed everything about her.

"Beck? Are you even listening to me?" Tori asked, annoyed. They were sitting at lunch together, two weeks later.

"What? Sorry," he murmured.

"Lemme guess, daydreaming about the redhead again?"

He folded his arms on the table and slumped down, lowering his head.

"Well if you were wondering, I was just saying how you need to eat something. You know, keep your strength up?" she said, offering him half of her sandwich.

"I'm not hungry," he muttered.

"Okay, Beck this routine is getting a little old," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"This whole 'pity-party-let's-mope-around-and-do-nothing-when-clearly-I-_should_-be-doing-something-boohoo-woe-is-me' routine."

"What are you saying, Tori?"

"I'm saying _go see her_. Beck, you haven't even tried."

"It's no use. Her mom made it pretty clear what she wants.."

"Who cares? Since when do people listen to what their parents say anyway? You need to follow your heart and do what's gonna make you happy."

He took the half of sandwich she was offering him and shook his head at her. "You know, you can be really sappy sometimes."

She smiled and shrugged. "Maybe so but you know I'm right. And besides, who are they to say what's best for Cat anyway?"

"Uhh, well they are her parents."

"Yeah, well I still haven't forgiven her mother for calling me Trina." And then Tori changed the subject. "Hey, you know what I've noticed?"

"What's that?"

She grinned. "You really have a thing for crazy girls don't you? I mean Jade was in her own league of difficultness, but now with this whole thing with Cat...you must really like a challenge."

He rolled his eyes but he knew she was just teasing him, trying to cheer him up. And sometimes he was grateful to have her around to say things like that. Most of the time, actually.

"Yeah that's why I do it. I think I have like a savior complex or something."

She squeezed his arm. "Go and see Cat today, Beck. You have to at least try. I have a feeling she really needs you right now."

As usual, he realized that Tori was right. And that sitting around wasn't going to solve anything. And as it turns out, surprisingly, being able to see Cat wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. In his mind he'd had it envisioned as this big, impossible goal but it turned out to not be so hard after all. Regardless of Cat's parents' request of only immediate family members being allowed to visit her, he managed to get past the front desk anyway. The receptionist recognized him from the many times he'd been there before and she knew right away who he was there to see. She didn't even bother checking him in. The phone rang and immediately caught her attention, so she just told him what room number and waved him along.

It was on the same floor and in the same hallway as her old room so he had no trouble finding it. When he got to her door he knocked before opening it. Cat was sitting up on her bed with her legs crossed, staring out the window.

"Surprise?" he said nervously, shutting the door behind him. But she didn't even look over at him and when she didn't immediately acknowledge him he started to get alarmed. "Cat what's wrong?"

She wasn't frowning and she didn't look sad. Her face was completely expressionless, a blank grey slate. She looked tired and bored, like she was incapable of showing any emotion at all. Like she felt nothing.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, walking over to the window, which was completely bolted shut.

She didn't respond... Why wasn't she talking to him?

Outside there was nothing but green grass, a cloudy sky and in the distance the long, winding road that led to the way out of the place. A few of the patients were out with their nurses on their evening strolls, but mostly there wasn't really anything out there to look at. He realized that Cat was staring at absolutely nothing.

Two possibilities crossed his mind. She was either drugged on some new medication that was sucking the life out of her or she was too depressed about her situation to pretend to be positive anymore. It wasn't like the last time she'd been there, something was definitely different this time. Something wasn't right.

He sat down on the bed beside her. "Okay if you're not gonna talk to me...then I guess you're just gonna have to listen."

She blinked.

"I haven't stopped thinking about you, Cat. I don't want you thinking that I've forgotten about you just because I haven't been around okay? I could never do that."

The more she sat quietly the more unsettling it was for him. She was supposed to be smiling and laughing, or at least moving and doing _something_. Not sitting there like a lifeless mute.

He put his hand over hers and held onto it. And in a gentler voice he asked, "What's wrong Cat? Why won't you talk to me?"

But he got nothing out of her.

For awhile he just sat beside her and thought about things, tried to figure out what he should do next because just talking didn't seem to be getting him anywhere. And he thought about his friends and how they kept telling him that _he _needed to do something for Cat, that it was his responsibility and it was probably going to be up to him and no one else. Because he was the one who loved her. And he was supposed to make sure that she was safe and happy, at whatever costs.

"You hate it here don't you?" he practically stated. She didn't say anything but she didn't have to because he could already tell by the way she was acting. Cat never acted this miserable.

Tori's voice echoed in his mind..'_You have to do something!...Stand up for what's right and fight for your love..'_

And Andre's...'_She's right, you gotta do something..'_

And Robbie's...'_It's all up to you dude...'_

And Rex's...'_MAN UP!_'

And even Jade's...'_She needs you, Beck..'_

So he let all of that get to his head. And he said something crazy. "Well...what if I said I was gonna get you out?"

And that finally got her attention.

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><p><strong>Gosh what is Beck gonna do next? I wonder...<strong>

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review. Pretty please?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Helloo :D**

**So to the person who said the comment about whether Beck was with Cat only because he felt like he had to be. I see why it comes off that way because their relationship gets really complicated and it gets difficult for him. I think in the beginning as her friend he felt obligated to be there for her because nobody else was, but then when he started seeing her as more than a friend he was there because he wanted to be. And now he loves her and he just wants them to be happy together, but he's realizing that being with Cat comes with a lot of baggage that he doesn't always know how to deal with. And situations he doesn't always know how to handle because he's only sixteen, and he's sort of taking all of her problems and making them his own. So it starts to wear him down at some points where he doesn't know what to do but still knows he's got everyone, especially Cat depending on him and expecting him to fix things. But I think the fact that he's willing to do everything he does for her in the first place says a lot about the way he feels about her. And I think any relationship where one of the persons is mentally unstable is gonna end up being a little one-sided with one person doing most of the work, especially when (spoiler alert) the other person starts to really lose their mind. **

**Anyways that's just my interpretation, but no worries. No harm done as I welcome all interpretations :) Gosh, I wrote a lot there. Sorry I just wanted to clarify in case anyone else was wondering.**

**I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[Love comes with sacrifices.]<em>

_._

_._

_._

Beck was probably crazy for doing what he was gonna do next but in his defense, love tends to make you do crazy things. And once he'd gotten his plan together, everything after that just seemed to fall right into place. Like it was all meant to happen, like he was meant to rescue her.

For everything to work they needed to wait a few days until spring vacation was coming up. Beck told his parents he was going to be spending this spring break camping with Robbie and his dad, but of course that was just a lie meant to throw them off track. That way there wouldn't be any suspicion after he and his RV went missing, at least not for awhile. His parents trusted him so they agreed to let him go and his dad even let him borrow his pick-up truck to hook up to the RV. It was almost too easy.

In reality Robbie and his parents were going to Aruba for spring break and Beck and Cat were going...well, he didn't really know yet. And he didn't know how long they'd be gone, he just knew that he needed to get her far, far away from there and that was exactly what he was going to do.

To get Cat out of the hospital he was gonna need a distraction. Luckily he had some really great friends who were more than happy to provide one. At first he was hesitant about asking them for help because he was afraid they would try to talk him out of it. But he knew he wouldn't be able to do it without them and in the end they happily agreed and even helped him come up with the plan.

But on the day when everything was supposed to go down, when he arrived at the hospital there was a minor setback at the front desk.

"Hey, I'm here to see Cat," Beck said.

The receptionist smiled. "I figured that much. Just give me one second.." She began flipping through sheets on her clipboard until she stopped at one and scanned the page. After a moment she paused and said, "I'm sorry...Cat's only allowed to see her immediate relatives." She looked up at him and frowned, probably realizing the mistake she'd made last time.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, it's her parent's request. I didn't realize-"

"No, it's cool. Thanks anyway," he said, although he wasn't really sure what he was gonna do next. He turned his back and started towards the door, looking at the ground as he walked, feeling slightly defeated. And that must have been enough to guilt her into feeling sorry for him.

"Wait," she called. And he turned around. "Did you say your name was Michael_?_"

For a moment he just looked at her, puzzled. "Umm..."

"_Michael_...you're Cat's _brother_ right?" she said slowly. She winked and then he caught on.

"Oh yeah...right."

"You can go ahead in," she told him. "She's in the rec room right now with everyone else. We're having live entertainment today."

"Really?" he asked, feigning curiousity.

"Yeah, a couple of really nice kids from that performing arts school volunteered to come in and put on a show for the younger patients. I think one of them's a ventroloquist and the other one is a singer."

"Oh alright, well thanks again."

He headed over to the big room where a large group of people were sitting in chairs watching the performance. It was mostly younger kids and some of their parents were in the room too. Tori was at the front of the room singing a song, accompanied by Andre on the keyboard.

Cat was sitting in the back of the room like she'd been instructed to do, holding her tote bag stuffed with whatever belongings she could fit inside of it. When he spotted her, Beck came around and stood beside her, and then gave Tori the signal to let her know to wrap things up. The next act was the one that they were waiting for.

Getting the message, Tori finished her song and everyone clapped. "Thank you so much! That's the last song I'll be performing. And up next for you guys, we have Robbie Shapiro and his pal Rex with their stand-up routine."

Through the scattered applause she and Andre stepped away from the front of the room and went to the back where Beck and Cat were.

Robbie and Rex took their places, sitting on the stool and began their act.

Tori whispered to Beck, "So what should we do?"

"When it happens just keep lookout and make sure nobody's eyes are on me and Cat. Keep everyone distracted and try and make it look good," Beck said.

They both nodded. Andre said, "Don't worry it'll be good. Robbie and Tori are great actors."

Beck could only hope so.

Robbie and Rex went back and forth with their banter getting a few laughs here and there, until eventually the moment they were waiting for came. To demonstrate his skill, Robbie put a handful of gumballs in his mouth and had "Rex" tell the remainder of the jokes.

Beck gave Cat's shoulder a squeeze in anticipation. "Are you ready?" he whispered.

She looked up at him.

And suddenly Robbie started coughing and clutching at his throat. He dropped Rex on the ground and started waving his arms around, letting the gumballs spill out of his mouth. Then Tori jumped up and said, "Oh my god! He's choking!" Robbie fell to his knees and everyone stood to attention, gasping and whispering all around the room. The nurses in the room quickly rushed over to tend to him.

And Tori continued her freaking out to make it look extra dramatic. She started towards Robbie, screaming and crying, trying to grab ahold of him until one of the nurses had to call the guard over to hold her back. "Miss, please calm down. Everyone just calm down!" the nurse tried. The room was beginning to fill with panic and chaos, with kids getting upset and parents trying to calm them down.

"He's gonna choke to death! You have to save him! Robbie? Robbie can you hear me?" Tori shouted.

Andre, who was on lookout duty, scanned the room to make sure the coast was clear. Everyone was too focused on the chaotic scene in front of them to worry about the two kids in the back standing together side by side, slowing inching away from the scene. He gave Beck the signal to let him know it was okay to go.

They needed to move fast though, before anyone saw them. Beck grabbed Cat's hand and they quickly, but quietly stole out of the room without looking back. They headed out into the long hallway that lead to the back entrance where they'd make their escape. They had to pass a few office rooms with glass windows, but they managed to sneak past by ducking underneath them. And then they reached the large door with the red exit sign on top of it and booked out the door. Once they were out of the cold building and into warm air outside they were able to pause and catch their breath. There were people in the parking lot so at that point they had to play it cool. A man in a delivery truck was unloading things and carrying them over to the door they'd just ran out of but he didn't pay them any mind. They slowed to a casual walk until they got to Beck's car and then quickly got into it.

As he turned the key in the ignition, Beck finally he felt like he could breathe again. He turned to Cat, smiled at her and said, "We did it. You're free now."

Cat held her hand against her moving chest with her eyes shut, trying to calm her beating heart. Once she was able to relax she rolled the window down and rested her chin on top of it, and as he pulled out onto the highway she stared outside watching the cars and trees go by.

"Still nothing, Cat? You're not gonna say anything?" he asked.

Apparently she was still playing the quiet game.

Beck didn't know what was up with her but he didn't like it. He'd gotten her out of the hospital and yet she didn't seem happy or excited about it at all. He thought after he did what he did everything would go back to normal, that she'd be her talkative, bubbly self again. But something was different about her now. She had changed since she'd been admitted back into Evergreen.

Even though they were now a good distance away from the hospital, being out in public was still dangerous for them while they were still in the city. It wouldn't be long before someone realized Cat was missing and everyone started looking for her. And it would've been smarter to take her directly back to his trailer like he'd planned on doing, but there was another stop he decided they needed to make. There was something they needed that was more important than making a smooth getaway, even more important than not getting caught.

"Why are we here?" Cat asked him. Those were the first words she'd spoken to him since...a really long time.

They were at the park, one of Cat's favorite places. It was close to sundown so there weren't many people there. Just a middle aged couple and their daughter in the distance, strolling along the trail.

"Because you love it here," he said. He got out of the car and walked around to the passenger's side where she sat back lazily in her seat, gazing out the window. Beck wanted her to look at him like she used to. He wanted her to light up and get excited about something. "Come on," he said. He took her hand and helped her out of the car.

When they were kids they both used to love the swingsets. Beck used to stand up on the swing and pump himself back and forth until he'd start to go really, really fast and then Cat would beg him to slow down because she was always afraid he was gonna fall. He never listened to her though. He'd wait until he gained lots of momentum and then he'd jump off and Cat would watch him soar through the air, and she'd cheer and clap when he landed safely on the ground. When they were little Cat was always Beck's biggest fan because in her eyes he was fearless in all the ways that she wasn't. She was too afraid to jump off the swing herself, but she'd always watch Beck do it. And when she was too scared to go down the big, twisty tunnel slide she'd always wait for him at the bottom and tell him how cool it was that he could do it. Then he'd grin and say he could do whatever he wanted because he was practically a superhero. Like the superhero gene probably ran in his family.

Beck of course knows now that there's no such thing as a superhero gene. He knows he never had any superpowers that he could attribute his fearlessness to. And the more he thought about it the more he realized that Cat was probably the reason he always felt like he could do anything. Because she always believed that he could. He was never a superhero but he always thought he was because Cat made him feel like one.

And maybe now it would take a superhero to get her to learn how to be herself again. When she hesitated to go near the playground he scooped her up in his arms and carried her like a bride over to the merry-go-round. He set her down on the large metal fixture and she stood up immediately, holding onto the bars for balance.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Beck, don't.."

She tried to get off but he stood in the way, blocking her from jumping off. "It's okay, just hold on tight," he said.

Cat bit her lip.

And then he pushed on the bars, sending her spinning around and around, slowly at first. Every spin she moved away from him she'd turn her head to look back at him and make sure he was still there. He pushed harder, making her go faster, her red hair whipping around her face in the wind.

Beck grabbed hold of the bars one last time and this time he ran with it as fast as he could. He let it go and sent her spinning once again, and then he stood back and waited, until he heard the sound of something he'd been waiting to hear this whole time, she _laughed. _And when he saw she was finally smiling he thought _Thank God._

He saw her letting go of the bars and putting her arms out in the air, feeling the breeze as she moved. "I'm not scared anymore," she said, still spinning around like she was finally free.

"Are you gonna jump?" he called out. And then without warning she threw herself off of the merry-go-round and into his arms. He stumbled backwards and they ended up falling in the grass with all of her weight ontop of him.

"Sorry!" She apologized covering her mouth, trying to hide her laughter but couldn't keep a straight face. "Thanks for breaking my fall," she said.

He couldn't help but smile a little too even though he was in pain from the landing. "Warn me next time, please," he said.

"That was so much fun. I forgot how fun those were."

Then Beck turned her over on her back so that he was on top of her, and he pressed his lips against hers. And he rained down maybe six or seven kisses all over her face. "_Beck_!" She hit him in the chest playfully.

He smiled. "What?"

"What was all that for?"

"I'm sorry, I just..." She watched his face turn serious for a second. He paused and started playing with the strands of hair at the base of her scalp."...I thought I lost you, Cat. You were acting so different before."

She looked at his eyes, saw how worried he must have been and she touched his face, gently. "That won't happen again. I'm happy now, I promise."

He put his hand over hers and decided to take her word for it.

"Okay. We'd better get out of here soon, before...y'know."

"Wait, but we didn't even get to go on the swings yet!" And yeah Cat was definitely back now.

Afterwards they left the park and went back home to his trailer where they'd be spending the night before they started their journey. He already had it hooked up to his dad's pick up truck so they'd be ready to leave right at the crack of dawn.

When they got inside the first thing Cat noticed was the small tank in the corner with her yellow guinea pig inside of it. "Harry's coming with us?" she asked, excited.

"I figured you wouldn't want to leave him behind," he said.

"But how did you...?"

"Same way I got him the last time. You know your brother'll do pretty much anything for a bag of candy."

Cat had taken him out of the tank and she was petting him now. She smiled. "It's because he's never allowed to have it. It makes him bounce off the walls. Like literally. My mom and dad are probably gonna freak when they find it and..." she trailed off quietly as if she was just thinking of something, probably having to do with her mentioning her family.

Beck understood what she was feeling at that moment because he felt it too. And he'd thought about it so much when he'd finalized his decision about running away. It was a mixture of guilt and almost sadness because of the people they were going to be leaving behind. He knew his parents loved him more than anything. And he knew Cat's family, even though they weren't perfect, loved her too because no matter what they were still her family.

"Do you think they know I'm gone?" she asked.

"I don't know. Do you think the hospital knows yet?"

"Maybe. They'll at least know when it's time for bed check."

Hopefully not too long after that they'd be far, far away from there. Too far for anyone to catch up to them.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," he told her. "I'll take you back if you changed your mind. I won't be mad."

Cat shook her head almost immediately. "I can't go back there. I wanna stay with you."

He patted her on the head. "Alright then tomorrow's gonna be a pretty big day."

Later that night after he was sure his parents were asleep, he snuck her into his house so she could use the shower. While she was doing that he stocked up on a few things for the mini fridge in his RV, and said goodbye to his old house even though he hadn't really lived there since he was 14 years old. And then afterwards they went back to the trailer to get some sleep.

Cat tied her wet hair up in a messy bun and she plopped down onto his bed. Beck was already lying down, propped up on his elbow.

Cat bit her lip, nervously.

He noted her expression and said, "If this is weird I can sleep on the floor...I mean if you're uncomfortable or anything."

She smiled, shaking off any nervousness. "Don't be silly," she responded, cuddling up beside him. "If you slept on the floor I'd probably still end up next to you like last time. And anyway this is how it's gonna be now. Just me and you."

He pressed his lips against her forehead. He like the idea of that. Just the two of them. No more people and no more problems.

Early the next morning before Cat was even awake, Beck went back inside and showered, said goodbye to his parents and told them that if they called and he didn't answer it was because it was practically impossible to get good cell phone reception at the campsite.

Then he came back around and woke up Cat so they could get in the truck and go wherever the heck it was they were gonna go.

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><p><strong>Okay that was a pretty quick update I know. I wrote this all in like one night. So yeah. Hopefully I'll update again soon cuz I got a million ideas swimming around in my head. <strong>

**Leave a review! :P**


	9. Chapter 9

**I promise I'm still here! Please don't forget about me! Here's a new chapter yaaaay!**

**I don't own Victorious.**

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><p><em>[Problems don't just disappear.]<em>

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Beck was searching through a stuffy room full of chatting people, trying to find Cat because he'd managed to lose her, an entire person, yet again. It seemed like lately he was always chasing after her. It had already happened several times since they'd been gone and he was considering keeping a picture of her in his wallet to have to show people just to make the search process go faster. He'd checked the bathrooms to see if she was there and he'd gone through the place twice already but she was still nowhere to be found. Maybe she'd wandered off outside someplace. When he stepped outside there were a ton of people pacing the sidewalk and no sign of Cat. He caught his fingers through his thick hair in frustration and stopped beside a homeless guy who was sitting outside the door. "Excuse me, did you by any chance see a girl with red hair, about this tall walk out of this door?"

The guy shrugged. "Sorry, kid."

Outside, just as he was at a loss of what to do next, he heard her singing coming from inside the restaurant. He could tell it was her right away because he and pretty much everyone else who knew her could recognize her voice. And when he went back inside Cat was on stage with a microphone in hand doing a very fun karaoke rendition of "Heart of Glass" by Blondie. He sighed, feeling relief wash over him. And since he finally knew where she was now, he decided to go back to the bar and just relax. Ever since they'd been on the road Cat had been on this physical and mental high where she was always moving, always wanting to be doing something, and sometimes it was hard for him to keep up with her. But in the grand scheme of things it was fine with him as long as that meant that she was happy.

Afterwards he pushed through crowds to meet her. He noticed a guy, a presumably older guy, was blocking her path trying to talk to her. As usual, Cat was always extra friendly and engaging him back in conversation. "You're really talented," he told her.

"Thanks! My name is Cat," she said. Beck came up beside her and she turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "And this is my boyfriend, Beck," she said smiling.

"Mind if I steal her?" Beck said, pulling her aside.

Cat was extremely giddy, she was grinning from ear to ear and practically glowing. "Was I good? That was such a rush! I forgot how much I loved being on stage."

"You were amazing," he said smiling back at her. "But Cat, I thought you were going to the bathroom?"

"I _was_," she shrieked. "But then I saw the sign by the door that said 'free karaoke' and I talked to the guy and he told me I could do it. I just got so excited. Are you mad?"

"No, but we have to be careful. Remember that talk we had about us having to stick together so we don't get lost?"

"Right," she said, nodding. "And I promise I will be more careful next time. But Beck I still really have to pee," she told him anxiously.

"Alright, go ahead I'll wait for you."

Cat scampered off to the bathroom and Beck followed, staying close by to make sure he didn't lose her again. He leaned up against the wall and reached into his pocket to check the time on his cell phone but the battery was practically dead. It was almost 11 o'clock at night, which was well past time for them to get back to the R.V. and find a place to park for the night. He ignored the fact that there were three voicemails and four unanswered text messages on his phone, and put it back into his pocket and waited.

Beck was slightly, overly protective of Cat now, but that was only because he had to be. Wherever they went Cat was always drawing attention to them or to herself, wanting to talk to every stranger she met. She trusted people too easily so Beck had to be there to intervene in case someone ever tried to get too close. He was more comfortable with keeping a low profile, moving around and not getting involved with a lot of people, just because of the risks that came with it. But sometimes it seemed like trouble was destined to find them wherever they went. The first few days they'd been on the road, one night they'd stopped at a pool hall to get directions. And while he was there, Beck decided to use the phone to check in with Tori so she and the others would know that they were okay, like he promised. He'd told Cat to stay in the truck, but Cat could never stay in one place for too long. Within seconds of his phone conversation she had followed him inside and started mingling with strangers.

"Where are you guys?" Tori asked him over the phone.

"I probably shouldn't say."

"Right...well, everything's under control here so you don't have to worry."

"Really?"

She sighed, "Ehh...no. People are looking for Cat...and you. The cops questioned me and Andre and they even searched my house last night. They know you never went camping with the Shapiros."

"Did you tell them anything?"

"Of course not, but this whole thing is starting to freak me out a little bit."

Beck heard the words she was saying, but he was too distracted to take them seriously. He was trying to keep an eye on Cat. And then the phone beeped, letting him know he needed to put in another quarter. "Listen, I've got to go but try not to panic if anything happens. I just need time to figure everything out. You can tell my parents that I called you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just tell them that I'm okay. And that Cat's okay too."

"Alright, Beck just call me if you need anything. And be careful."

He told her he would - he was always careful - and then he hung up the phone. But Beck's carefulness was always being matched by Cat's carele_ss_ness, and at the end of the night he and Cat ended up getting kicked out of the pool hall.

When Beck met up with Cat she was entertaining a group of pool players. She was smiling, waiting for him to come over when one of the guys jumped up in celebration, having just sunk a shot.

Cat giggled to Beck. "He didn't start winning until I came over. He says I'm good luck."

That was nice, Beck thought, but it was really time for them to be moving along. It was getting late and they needed to figure out where they were gonna sleep and whatnot.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

"Already?" she said. She didn't seem to understand that these people were strangers and therefore potentially dangerous.

"We should be getting back on the road."

But then the guy stepped up, with his pool cue in hand and said, "She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to."

It was such a cliche moment and moments like these were ones that Beck had been hoping to avoid. Cat stepped back from between the two of them, not wanting to be in the middle of it. The guy waited for him to do something, and challenged him with his hard expression, daring him to say something back. But Beck's first instinct was to back down so that's what he did. He'd never been one to start a conflict so he was not about to provoke him. He ignored him and took Cat by the arm to lead her out of the door. But then he felt the guy grab hold of Cat as well, pulling her in the other direction and that's when things got out of hand. "Dude..Vince," his friend warned, trying to stop things from escalating.

The guy, whose name was apparently Vince, snorted when Beck told him to take his hands off of her, and he wouldn't let go. "You're hurting me," Cat complained. And then that's when Beck, in a moment of bravery, drew back and struck him in the jaw with his fist. Cat gasped, stepping back stunned at what he'd done. But Vince recovered quickly and immediately charged him. He grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him into a nearby table so hard that it collapsed underneath his weight. And then the entire room went dead silent and all eyes were on them.

Cat jumped in between them, intervening before anything else could happen while Vince's friends struggled to hold him back. That's when the manager stormed in and threatened to call the police if they didn't leave right then. Cat helped Beck up to his feet and the two of them made a mad dash for the door. And then there was that familiar rush that came with running away again, making another big escape together and Beck looked over at Cat and saw that she was feeling it too. It was almost like an adrenaline rush that came with them being on their own and being able to do whatever they wanted. Cat started laughing. "That was _so_ scary, Beck I can't believe you hit him! I thought you were a pacifier."

Beck collapsed on the pavement next to where they parked the RV and Cat fell beside him. "_Pacifist. _And I think I might have broken my hand," he said although he kind of felt like laughing about it too. He'd never _really _hit anyone before. Maybe during a scene or a stunt, but never in an actual fight. His fingers felt like he'd sprained them; hitting that Vince guy in the jaw felt like punching a brick.

"That guy was _huge _and then he grabbed you and he was like - _rawrgghhh,_" Cat growled and proceeded to do her best incredible Hulk impersonation. "He lifted you up in the air and dropped you. He could've killed you! Are you okay? You must be in a lot of pain."

Beck lied, "No, no I'm fine." His fingers were swollen and his ribs and back were very sore in places but it wasn't that bad. It only hurt when he moved a certain way or like when he breathed and stuff.

"You don't have to stand up for me ever again. I feel like I'm always hurting you."

"No, Cat it's okay I can take whatever comes at me. That wasn't even that bad," He jumped to his feet to prove it. "Look at me, I'm okay. I don't mind taking a few hits for you."

Cat giggled and stood up too, to kiss him on the cheek. "Next time you tell me to stay in the truck I'll listen," she promised. Even though she had a tendency to forget about her promises the way she had a tendency to forget about a lot of things. But that was just the way she was and Beck was learning to accept it and adapt to all of the ways that they were different from each other.

Tonight at the place they were at, as they exited they were able to leave on a happier note. Cat jumped on his back and he carried her piggyback out the door as she waved goodbye to everyone. And they all collectively responded with "Bye Cat!" as they left the restaurant and went on their way.

They drove a few miles until they found a rest stop. Beck parked the truck and RV in the lot, which was practically deserted at that time of night, and they headed to the back to crash for the night. It was late and all the events of the day had made him tired. Outside it was completely dark except for a few street lamps, and the RV was dark as well, so they had to feel around carefully as they made their way inside.

Once he found his way Beck collapsed onto his nice, familiar bed out of sheer exhaustion; but he would have fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow if it wasn't for Cat. At first they'd said goodnight and settled into place on their respective sides of the bed. But then he felt Cat grow restless beside him. She started tossing and turning until eventually she just gave up completely.

"Beck.."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we're safe here?"

"Of course we are," he murmured sleepily.

"But what if there's something out there?" she whispered. "Like bears...or a bigfoot_._"

"There aren't any bears out here, I promise. We're at a public stop. And bigfoot is just a myth."

She sat up and looked out the window, probably imagining all kinds of things because nights were the only part of their adventure she didn't like. She was always letting her imagination run away with her. "But if it's a myth that means you don't know if it's true or not," she said.

"Well I've read about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah and there's nothing to worry about because bigfoots are totally harmless. There are no records of anyone being attacked by one. And actually it's said that they prefer to avoid humans altogether. That's why we never see them."

He'd come up with these facts off the top of his head but Cat seemed to buy into them.

"Oh wow," she said. "I wonder what they look like. Can we try to find one?"

"Maybe. We'll see how tomorrow goes."

She turned her gaze back to the window for a moment and then she looked at him. "I'm still scared though."

"Of what?"

"...what if there's something else out there that we can't see because everything's-"

"I know, you're afraid of the dark. But if you just stop thinking about it you won't be scared. Nothing's gonna happen to us."

"But, Beck.."

"Just lay down."

She sighed. "Okay."

"Now close your eyes. And forget about everything that's out there."

She did as she was told and it must've worked because she fell asleep in a matter of minutes. And for that he was grateful because he too was finally able to get some sleep. He didn't plan on waking up early at all but he vaguely remembered being shaken awake by Cat at what felt like 5 o'clock in the morning. But afterwards he went right back to sleep and didn't get up until late into the afternoon.

When he did get up Cat was already awake and moving; she appeared to have been for awhile, busying herself apparently by destroying his entire bedroom. She was sitting in the middle of the floor with all of the contents of his shelves, book cases and his closet haphazardly spilled around her, sorting through all of his old junk. Beck grabbed Harry, who was out of his cage and crawling ontop of a mountain of books, and scooped him up before he could make his way under the bed. He held the rodent against his bare chest and furrowed his brows at Cat who just looked up at him and smiled briefly before turning back to what she was doing.

"Morning," he greeted.

"You mean afternoon," she corrected.

"Right. Uhh I see you've been busy..." he said taking in the huge mess she'd made of his floor. It was his own fault really, for leaving her unattended for that long.

"I promise I'll clean it up. You just have so much stuff. Like your whole life is in this RV."

The main thing she'd gotten into was his old photo albums. One was opened with all of the pictures removed from the slots and placed into stacks on the carpet. Pictures that she was in and pictures without her.

"It's fine, just - what are you doing?"

She had scissors and she was cutting them, all of the ones that she was in and then separating the pieces. And she seemed pretty focused on what she was doing at first, but then when he questioned her she stopped. She dropped the scissors and looked at him with that familiar doe-eyed nervousness. "I'm sorry."

"Can I have the scissors please?" he asked and she handed them over. "Okay explain."

The expression on her face was a mixture of pensive and confused. "I was trying to see something," she told him. He saw that she'd cut herself out of all the pictures and was separating the pieces into two piles. There were pieces of Cat and then there was everything else. "I don't know...this was wrong. I shouldn't have done it, but I just wanted to show you - I mean I thought you should see it."

"What are you talking about, Cat?"

She was confused because in her mind at the time when she was doing it, it all made sense but now when she tried to explain it all of these words came out that didn't sound right to her at all. "Please don't hate me. I just didn't think she belonged there so I wanted to see what it would look like if she was gone. I cut her out because she doesn't fit - well, I mean...not her, _me. _I'm Cat. My name is Cat and I'm different from everybody else. That's why I did it. Because I do things wrong and I make everything difficult so...sometimes it's hard for people to love me. But I try really, _really_ hard. Beck, you see that I'm trying right?"

Beck frowned. "I see that you're getting upset right now. You don't have to try to do anything."

"But if I don't then I'm just gonna lose it again. Look at my hands, Beck." She showed him her old, faded scars on the inside of her palms and on the back of her hands. And he noticed a not so faded one across her knuckle. "That's what happens."

Beck sighed, covered her hand with his and closed it. "I thought you were doing better now."

"I am," she said.

"Then where is this coming from?"

"I told you I've been trying really hard for you, but...sometimes my mind plays tricks on me. And last night you didn't listen to me when I told you I was scared. I think something is after us."

"Wait, what do you mean? Like a person? Did you see someone?"

"No, it's not...never mind. I don't want to talk about it." She gathered up the pieces of the pictures she'd ruined and started rearranging them. "I want to put these back together now."

So she started fixing the pictures back to the way they were before, and when she was done she got a roll of tape from out of his desk and began to seal them. The whole time Beck sat watching her, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He didn't know why she'd trashed his room and why she'd destroyed his pictures, or what 'something' she was talking about that was after them. And to be honest the whole thing was just making him nervous. He had to rationalize it somehow in his brain though, because he didn't want to believe that her mind could be reverting back to the way it was before when it seemed like she'd been doing so much better. Maybe she'd been locked up in the RV for too long by herself waiting for him. She probably just needed to get some air.

"I'll put everything back now," she said.

"It's okay just leave it. We'll clean it up later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He decided that he just needed to take her mind off of whatever was troubling her. So he took her out of the RV and into the too bright daylight, and they walked over to the area where all of the facilities were. There were a few people there now, coming in and out of the restrooms and also standing by the vending machines.

Beck took Cat over to the stand with the pamphlets where there was a giant map of California posted up on the wall. He covered her eyes and told her to point to anywhere on the map. Wherever her finger landed was where they were gonna go and that's where they were gonna stay for awhile. Without looking, she pointed to a little beach town on the coast up north from where they were.

"Cayucos," Beck read. "Alright, sounds good."

"You think it's far enough?"

He put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. "I think it's perfect. It'll be great once we get there."

"And we'll be okay..?"

He decided to play along with whatever delusions were going on in her head right now. "I promise. Whatever you're worried about isn't gonna find us."

Cat smiled. "Do you wanna hear a story? I had this silly dream last night. Where I was in this really big tunnel made out of vines and leaves. I was walking and there were these little elves that kept shouting at me. And they kept saying '_You're going the wrong way Cat! You're going the wrong way!'_ But I didn't listen to them.."

"Umm-"

"..So I was trapped in this tunnel. But it was really pretty because you could see the sunlight through all of the vines. So it wasn't dark or anything. And there were flowers _everywhere._ But I was trapped because I didn't listen...but it was okay, still. Because it was so beautiful. And maybe if I had listened to the elves I could've gotten out but I think I really liked it there. It was really nice. Do you think that's what Cayucos is like?"

He paused, "..I guess we'll find out."

Cat smiled again. "I never got out of the tunnel. But then I found these little charms hidden in a rabbit hole, like the ones on your bracelet. There was a '_B'_ for Beck."

Beck took her hand. "That's cute, Cat. C'mon let's get out of here."

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><p><strong>.<strong>

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**Okay I'm sorry it took so long for me to update, I've been super busy. I know I suck, but I'll try my best to update again soon!**** :P**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey I know it's been a really long time and I don't blame you if you hate me! But I really haven't had time to update with school and stuff. Half of this chapter was literally sitting on my computer for months before I got the chance to work on it. But I really missed working on this so I should be updating more frequently now :) So yeah I'm back!**

**I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter but I really wanted to get this up because I figured I kept you all waiting long enough.. Hopefully you like it! I don't own Victorious.**

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><p>[<em>Can't pretend forever<em>.]

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Beck and Cat spent the day by the water playing in the sand and lying in the sun, holding hands and being happy. Cat was especially happy, Beck was sure of it. He remembers because he lost count of how many times he saw her smile. And how many times she laughed and tackled him into the ocean, screaming and splashing playfully as she held onto him. He let her ramble on about silly things like mermaids and underwater sea kingdoms. And they kissed each other a lot. In the secluded area by the rocks and next to the ice cream stand, and even once underwater (which is not quite as romantic as you'd think but still good). That entire day was perfect, he remembers it clearly.

Though Cat was getting notably stranger as the time passed, it wasn't completely out of the ordinary considering it was her. As the sun went down, they held hands and walked on the boardwalk. Beck walked steady while she bounced along beside him, every now and then pulling away from him just to let him pull her back close again. They stopped next to a storefront where a man with a cart was selling dream catchers. Cat was the one who'd wanted to stop; she was immediately intrigued. Her eyes lit up when she saw them. "They catch dreams?" she'd asked.

"Only the bad ones," the man told her. He then went on to explain the story behind them and how they worked according to the Plains Indians. He set one of the dream catchers out, laid it flat and pointed to the webs in the center. "If you hang it by your bed at night, this is where the bad dreams get caught. And then the good dreams work their way through the center and rest on the feathers like dewdrops, until the morning when the sun evaporates them to the Great Spirit. Any leftover nightmares then get burned up by the prayer beads and you'll be left with nothing but pleasant nights sweetheart. Is that what you're looking for?"

Cat listened intently and hung on to every word he was saying, and then she nodded. "It's perfect. Beck?"

"Okay, how much?" Beck asked. Even though they were running out of money, he was sort of whipped now in that he would have gotten her whatever she wanted. Only because he was so set on making her happy. And he knew that she was having trouble sleeping at night, so if this would help with that then he was all for it.

He shelled out a few bucks and then they were on their way, Cat smiling and twirling her new toy in the wind as they walked. She kept singing, "_No more bad dreams, no more bad dreams," _and spinning around, despite the occasional glances she got from strangers.

When they got back to the trailer she hung it up right away, on the wall right next to their bed. That was the first night Cat fell asleep without any problems.

In the morning she ran outside and started skipping around the trailer because apparently her dream catcher really was magic. Beck had to run after her barefoot in only a t-shirt and boxers. She'd run away, deeper into the secluded area of grass and land where they were parked. She too was barefoot, spinning around in her nightie singing a high pitched note that sounded more like a sound a burning tea kettle would make. "What are you doing?" he called out to her. He caught her as she was running past him and grabbed ahold of her waist.

Cat spoke in between breaths, trying to get air into her lungs. "Last night I dreamed about you! You were in my tunnel with me." She smiled hazily, remembering and then she laughed. "And you had flower petals all in your hair."

"So it was a good dream. No more nightmares?"

She nodded. "Yes…Beck, I want to stay with you. I don't want to go with the elves."

He didn't bother trying to decipher that, he just told her simply, "Then stay."

They went back to the beach and spent the day there again, relaxing without a care in the world. After it got dark, Cat noticed a group of people were having a bonfire farther down along the beach, and she wanted to crash it. Beck was hesitant at first; from a distance it looked like a small group of friends that probably wouldn't want them intruding. But they turned out to be really _easygoing_ people, all college-aged kids and Beck realized that the reason they were all so friendly was because most of them were stoned. Beck decided it'd be okay to hang out there as long as Cat didn't touch any of the stuff they were using.

They were really friendly and they immediately took a liking towards Cat, the way that everyone always did. Cat told one of the girls that she really liked her hair so she offered to do hers (French braids though, instead of the tight locks she kept her dark blond hair in) and when they were done they danced and sang around the fire to old music playing from the radio. Beck liked being on the beach at night, when it was so dark that aside from the fire, all you could really see was the stars and the moon's reflection on the ocean. And he liked how the beach was practically deserted at night because then he could have time to gather his thoughts in quiet. There were things that he needed to think about, he knew, but he kept avoiding them in his head. He kept looking over at Cat and telling himself that she was fine.

"So you guys are from Hollywood?" Cat's new dread-locked friend asked him and he jumped back maybe two feet. She came out of nowhere and it startled him. "Sorry! I'm Reycie by the way."

He recovered quickly and nodded. "Beck."

She tucked her hands into the back pockets of her cargo pants and dug her bare feet deeper into the sand. In the dark he could barely make out anything but her freckles and her nose ring, but she had a nice face, Beck thought. "Your girlfriend is really sweet. I don't think I've ever met anyone like her."

Beck smiled in his head. That was the impression everyone always got of her because she truly was special, one of a kind. "Yeah but she drives me crazy sometimes," he mumbled. She replied with a laugh.

Even though he was realizing that a relationship with her could never be as simple as he'd like it to be, he was also realizing that she was worth the trouble. So far they'd had some pretty good times together.

"If you guys are from Hollywood, then what are you doing here? You're runaways, right?"

"Did Cat tell you that?"

"No, but I could tell."

"It's a long story," he said. He didn't plan on telling anyone the _whole_ story, just because. He didn't feel comfortable with anyone knowing about Cat's problem before he could fully understand it himself. "What do you mean you can tell?"

"You've been running from something and you finally got away from it. Or you think you got away from it…" She eyed Beck's expression and smiled, realizing that she had gotten it right. "I can read people really well. Actually, you look like you could use a drink. Are you thirsty?"

She pulled a canteen out of her sack and handed it over to him. Beck twisted the cap off. "What is it?"

"It's good stuff. Just try it, it tastes like coconuts."

He took a sip and it did taste kind of sweet and coconut-like but it was tinged with a familiar, dark bitterness that told him it wasn't just juice he was drinking. He didn't really mind it though. He kept drinking until his mood changed and it was at the point where he knew what he was doing but he didn't want to stop. He didn't know what made him want to drink like that; maybe it was all the anxiety he was feeling, (or bottling up because he was trying to pretend it wasn't there). But he'd been drunk before and he liked the feeling so he decided to just go with it.

The only problem was that whenever he was drunk he had a tendency to spill his guts to whoever was around to listen (his ex-girlfriend Jade could attest to this fact). He suddenly felt all these emotions piling on top of each other, trying to get out and those feelings were followed by a strong urge to talk to his current girlfriend, Cat. He caught up to her on the beach and put his arms around her. Cat enthusiastically turned to face him with a huge smile on her face. "Cat, can we go somewhere and talk?" he asked.

Her expression grew a bit more serious. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, but it's important. Just come with me." Beck lead her wandering farther down the beach away from the rest of the strangers they'd met at the bonfire, next to the rocks by the water. Walking was kind of hard for him though with his current state; he stumbled more than a few times and Cat had to help him up. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah I'm fine, just listen to me. Just listen…" He cleared his throat.

"Alright, umm-"

"I just want you to know how I feel about you," he blurted.

Cat couldn't help but giggle lightly at how serious he was, just because she was feeling so lighthearted and giddy in comparison.

"Beck what are you talking about?"

He put his hand on her face to make her look at him and then he began his embarrassing, drunken speech. "I'm crazy in love with you, Cat. I want to be able to take care of you forever. All this stuff I've done I did it for you and if I could go back I wouldn't change any of it." He stopped speaking for a second to watch her reaction. He expected her to be happy, or to move or say something but she didn't. She just looked slightly confused and then suddenly her expression went blank; her smile fell right from her face down to the ground. "I can't remember whether or not I've said this before but I love you."

"You love me," she repeated, quietly.

"Yeah, I do." Beck furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, worry rising in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right. "You're crying…"

"No I'm not," she said quickly. But the tears were sliding down her face as visible as day.

"Don't do that," Beck told her and he tried to wipe them away but they kept falling, she wouldn't stop crying. Beck put his arms around her and held her head against his chest, squeezing her tightly. He could feel her shaking and shuddering, crying more intensely as the moments passed but he just held her there.

Bits and pieces of the rest of that night remain a blur to him but there were certain parts that he could remember. After Cat cried for a good twenty minutes, Beck wiped her face and she had to help him back to the trailer because he still could barely walk straight. As soon as they were inside he let himself fall on the floor, and Cat who'd had his arm around her, steadying him, fell beside him. Cat's eyes were puffy and red from crying so much and her braids were messy and loose, falling apart now. It was funny because they ended up right back in the same place where they had first kissed that night, on the floor beside the bed.

Cat asked him if he was drunk. "Maybe a little bit," he murmured, lying down on his back.

"Beck, I think there's something you should know. I don't know how to tell you."

He blinked his eyes open. "You can tell me anything." But when she started talking everything became blurry to him. He could vaguely hear Cat whispering things to him but his mind was somewhere else. He couldn't help it, maybe it was the alcohol. He just couldn't pay attention to her. He was too focused on watching her lips move; thinking about how much he wanted to touch her and how soft her skin was. He took a hold of her hands and started playing with them.

Cat moved closer and leaned forward, and Beck sat up on his elbow so that he could face her. The last thing she mumbled before that was "You'll miss me if I'm gone." Cat raked her fingers through her hair and smoothed her dress in an attempt to fix her messy appearance. "We should make the most of these moments," she told him.

"What?"

She slowly lifted her arms and locked them around his neck, then kissed him a bit forcefully, pushing him onto his back.

"Whoa." He grabbed ahold of her shoulders.

"Sorry. Was that bad?"

He smiled somewhat stupidly, "No it was good. Just slow down a little."

Cat nodded and he allowed her to reattach her lips to his, this time with a bit less force. And this time he leaned forward, cupping the side of her face and taking control of the kiss. Cat moved back with her fists closed tightly down at her sides, he could tell that she was a little bit tense. So he brushed her hair out of her face and started gently raking his fingers through it at the scalp until she relaxed. He kissed her temple and moved his mouth down to her lips again. Cat flattened her palms and slowly moved her hands up and started toying with the hem of his shirt. Beck broke apart from her briefly before moving back and kissing her again. This time was different from all the other times they'd been intimate because his mind was still a bit loopy from the alcohol; he wasn't exactly thinking about what he was doing, he was being driven more by a physical urge inside him. And Cat seemed to have the same feelings he did; or maybe it was just that she trusted him to have control over the situation like he always did. He would always stop things before they went too far. The last thing he remembered was her pulling his shirt up over his head and him fiddling around with her buttons. Everything after that was...

In the morning he woke attached to her, with his arm wrapped around her stomach and her body pressed close to his. He pulled away from her slowly, careful not to wake her and tried to piece together what had happened. Unfortunately the only thing he could focus on was the feeling of his brain trying to escape from his skull. He decided to let Cat sleep for a few minutes while he tried to concentrate.

Beck was staring up at the ceiling when he felt her stir beside him. She turned on her side facing him but stayed snuggled underneath the covers and eventually became still again. She woke up after he brushed a lock of her hair out of her face.

Cat blinked her eyes open, sleepily and smiled. Beck smiled back nervously and she began to blush.

"Hi."

"Hi."

They didn't really talk much after that. Beck just handed Cat one of his t-shirts and asked if she was ready to go out for breakfast.

Outside, despite it being early morning, the sky was a dull gray. And the streets were practically empty. Even though it wasn't exactly nice outside, Beck thought it would be a good day for them to go to the beach, just because he knew it'd be deserted. But first they needed to eat something, which was a problem because they were running low on cash.

Once they were inside the diner they decided to stop at, Beck tossed what was left of their money on the table, which totaled to about $4.83.

"I'm not hungry," Cat said.

They were sitting beside each other in the booth. Beck put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "We both have to eat. I'll order the pancakes and we can split it."

Cat nodded. "Okay."

But when the food finally came she barely touched it. She was too busy with the crayons and coloring book she'd asked the waitress to bring her. The only time she ate was when Beck literally put the food on the fork and brought it up to her mouth.

When the plate was almost clear Beck saved the last bite for her but she turned her head away when he picked up the fork. Then he started waving it around and making airplane noises and that got her attention. She turned to him and smiled and took the last bite. Beck couldn't help but smile too but still he was amazed by how child-like she could be sometimes.

When they got up to leave, he felt bad for not being able to tip the waitress but he couldn't exactly give what he didn't have. They were officially out of money now but Beck decided they would deal with that later. Eventually when it gets to be a problem (which it would) they'd be forced to figure something out but for the time being he pushed it to the back of his mind.

They went back to the trailer to get a few things and then hiked back to the beach to spend the rest of the day there. Cat wanted to bring Harry along too so she wrapped him inside a small blanket and put him inside her purse. Once they got there Harry didn't come out much because he was afraid of the sand but occasionally she'd take him out and lie down on her towel, place him on her stomach and let him crawl all over her body. She'd start giggling hysterically because his claws tickled.

Beck came over and sat beside her and she sat up, cradling Harry in her lap. "Is everything okay?" she asked. She must have been able to sense that something was wrong.

"Actually, I just wanted to apologize for something."

"Lay down with me." Cat scooted over on the blanket to make room for him. He laid down on his back beside her and she laid back down too so that they were lying shoulder to shoulder. Then she laced her fingers with his. "Whatever it is I forgive you."

"You can't just forgive me without knowing what I'm sorry for."

She shrugged casually and smiled. "I can do whatever I want."

Beck brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it. "I'm sorry about last night." When Cat didn't say anything, just looked at the hand he was holding, he continued. "I wasn't being responsible. I don't really remember all of what happened but if things got kind of…out of hand, then it's my fault."

When she didn't respond right away Beck started to get nervous. He began to worry that maybe he really had done something wrong.

"We didn't do anything," she finally said. "But it was nice. You were really gentle. Better than Riley…"

"Who's Riley?"

"Riley from last year," she told him. And then he remembered, that kid she'd dated for about three weeks last year. Beck's stomach turned at the realization of what she was telling him, not out of jealousy, but because he just didn't like what he was hearing. He should have been more surprised by the fact that his assumptions about her were wrong but to be honest he wasn't, just because he knew how naïve she could be. And he was just now seeing how vulnerable she must have been back then. He didn't like the idea of her being taken advantage of. Maybe if he had paid more attention he could have warned her about stuff like that but back then he'd been too wrapped up in his relationship with Jade to notice.

"I know we haven't really talked about it yet but I want wait before we do anything like that. There's no need to rush things. We have plenty of time," he said.

"Okay," Cat nodded and giggled at the rodent that started wiggling in between them. "Beck, we're like a little family. You, me and Harry."

He once again smiled at her innocence and pulled her in by her head for a quick kiss. Just as he was doing so they were interrupted by a voice and a familiar face standing over them.

"Well, aren't you guys cute."

"Reycie!" Cat jumped up in excitement and threw her arms around the thin girl. Reycie stumbled back a few inches, surprised by her enthusiasm and Beck smirked. She'd get used to Cat's over activeness eventually.

"What is _that_?" Reycie asked, pointing to the blonde fur ball sitting beside Beck on the towel. Cat's excitement grew even more, if that was possible.

"That's my guinea pig Harry," she said with a grin. She reached down and scooped him up so she could give her a better look.

Reycie petted him on the head with her fingertips, and then laughed. "You guys ran away from home and brought a rat with you?" Beck just shrugged. "He is cute though. I've heard all kinds of stories about these little guys. My friend Roger who moved here from Peru told me that in his country they actually raise them in farms and ea-"

Beck widened his eyes at her and she stopped.

"What?" Cat said.

"Uhh, nothing."

"So what brings you out here?" Beck asked, quickly standing up to change the subject.

She shrugged casually. "I don't know…I could ask you the same thing. It's not exactly brilliant weather out today, huh?"

"I think it's beautiful," Cat chimed in, spinning around with Harry in her arms just as a breeze picked up. The sky darkened a bit and Beck got the sense that it was gonna start storming soon. He figured they should probably head back.

"Actually a few of my friends are here too," Reycie said. "You remember Dougie and Chris?" She pointed off into the distance where two guys were throwing a ball around and tackling each other. "Do you guys wanna come hang out with us?"

Beck was hesitant at first; he was still wary about trusting people and to be honest he wasn't sure if he should trust her after last night. But in the end he ended up agreeing, only because Cat seemed to want to so badly. The four of them got a game of volleyball going but Beck ended up sitting out, volunteering to keep an eye on Harry instead. He sat cross-legged on the blanket with the rodent on his lap and thought about Cat, every now and then glancing over to observe her interaction with them and make sure she was okay. She seemed happy and she had been for a while, but Beck couldn't help but wonder how long that was gonna last. And then suddenly he remembered last night, standing by the rocks with her when she started crying hysterically. He remembered she cried so hard he didn't think she was ever gonna stop. Beck would never understand what made her go back and forth like that but the more he thought about it the more worried he got. He constantly saw her going from one extreme to the next and if that continued, that just meant that if she was happy now it was only a matter of time before she wouldn't be again.

And if she did end up going back to the way she was before they'd be all alone, left to deal with it themselves. They were miles away from any of their friends and family and Beck didn't see them being able to go back any time soon, mostly for the simple reason that they didn't have any money for gas to put in the truck. Beck couldn't help but wonder if things did ever get back to that point, would he be able to handle it by himself? He swallowed deeply and told himself he would, but really he just hoped it wouldn't ever come to that.

His thoughts were interrupted by Reycie running over to him and he couldn't help but be a little bit bothered by it. It wasn't that he didn't like her, he just hated how she was always catching him when he was deep in thought about he and Cat's situation and he didn't want her trying to "read his mind" again. He still wasn't comfortable with the idea of anyone finding out about it.

When she approached him she stopped short, probably noticing how tense he looked. Beck felt a bit guilty; he didn't like making people feel uncomfortable around him so he smiled to make things friendlier.

"If you wanna go play I can take care of the rat for you," she offered, digging her feet into the sand more. He noticed this was a nervous habit of hers.

"Thanks, but I'm okay. I don't really feel like playing."

They both turned their attention to Cat as she let out a scream, but it was one of excitement not fear. One of the guys had picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and he was now spinning her around in circles. Cat squealed with delight, her hair whipping in the wind. When he put her down she begged him to do it again.

Reycie laughed. "God, she's like a five year old. Where did you find her?"

Beck told her, "We went to school together since we were kids. She's always sorta been around."

"Well you're lucky," she told him. "You both are. To have found 'love' and stuff…"

Beck remembered telling Cat that exact same thing that night when he was trying to get her to go sleep. It had put her at ease and thinking about it put him at ease too. Hopefully they could continue to be lucky.

"Why are you over here and not with her?" she asked him, suddenly. And he paused at first, not knowing how to respond. He wasn't sure exactly what she was insinuating by the question. Was she trying to say that he didn't love her? Or was it merely just a simple observation and she wasn't trying to say anything at all. The look on her face showed concern so Beck figured that she could probably tell something was bothering him and cared enough to try to help. He didn't know why though, since they barely knew each other.

Finally, he decided to be honest. "I'm just thinking…" Beck could only really think clearly when he wasn't with Cat because somehow she always managed to cloud his judgment. When she was around he would believe everything she said and go along with whatever she wanted. "I love her and I want her to be happy. So I'm thinking of ways to make her happy," and then he added, "And to keep her that way." As simple as he'd put it, the underlying meaning in his words were revealed by the look on his face after he'd said it.

Reycie nodded, mulling over his words. It looked like the wheels were turning in her brain, as if she was suddenly realizing something. Then she whispered, "I knew it," so low that Beck could barely hear her.

"What?"

She shook her head, brushing it off. "Nothing. I think you're what makes her happy. You should go over and be with her."

Beck stared at her strangely for a moment, but she just urged him on. So he stood up and handed Harry over to her, assuming he was leaving him in good hands. When he ran over to Cat he was met with a hug, the shorter girl wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing herself up against him. He rested his chin on top of her head and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. The sky had darkened to where they couldn't tell if it was just getting later in the evening or if it was really about to storm, but then a low rumble heard from above gave them their answer. Cat shivered and withdrew her arms from around him to curl them against her chest, but she kept her close proximity. Beck rubbed her back. "It's okay it's just a storm…" he said, but then he remembered how afraid she was of them. "We should get back to the RV."

Cat nodded and he took her hand. They walked back over to the blanket where Reycie was sitting with the rest of their stuff. "I think we're gonna head back now," Beck said.

Reycie nodded in agreement. "It looks like it's gonna get pretty bad. How far away are you guys parked?"

"Not too far…just under a mile," he said. Then it started to rain, heavy drops and the wind started to pick up. Cat buried herself underneath Beck's arm to shield herself.

"My house is right up street. You guys are welcome to come over til the storm is over. I don't think you're gonna make it if you try to get back now…"

Beck didn't really have time to think about it. He could tell by the way Cat cringed at his side that she was scared and he knew there was no way they'd be able to make it back to the RV because the storm was already happening now. So they quickly packed up their things and followed Reycie, sprinting back to her house.

They managed to make it without getting too soaked. Reycie lived in a small home with one floor and two bedrooms. There wasn't much to it but they didn't really need much since it was just her and her mother living there. When they entered the living room her mom was sitting on the couch and she acknowledged them briefly before turning back to the television.

Reycie led them to the back where her room was. Which was pretty bare except for a bed, a stereo, and a million posters plastered all over the walls. "Make yourselves at home. I'll be right back," she said and then she disappeared down the hallway.

When Beck turned to Cat, her face yielded a completely different expression, he saw that her entire demeanor had changed. "What's wrong, Cat?" he asked.

Her eyes were a little red but he couldn't tell if her face was wet from the rain or if it was because she'd been crying. "Is Harry okay?" she asked, sadly.

"Yeah, he's fine. See?" Beck showed her the bag where he'd been tucked underneath the blankets, safe and sound.

Cat seemed to understand but it didn't really calm her down much. She still looked upset.

"I don't feel so good…" she told him.

"Are you sick?"

She shook her head and looked away but Beck took her by the chin and made her look at him. He didn't even have to ask to know what was wrong.

Reycie entered the room with a plate of mini bagels in her hand. "I thought you guys might be hungry, so I…is everything okay?"

Beck nodded quickly. "Yeah, thanks again for letting us come here. I hope we're not intruding."

"Of course not. You can stay as long as you need to. I already talked to my mom and she doesn't care."

Beck nodded and thanked her again while Cat fell to her knees on the floor beside him. She sat with her legs curled up underneath her and stared at the ground.

"What's wrong, Cat?" Reycie asked.

"I'm just tired," she replied, her voice slightly hoarse.

"Oh," Reycie looked at Beck for a confirmation but he didn't want to give anything away so he just kept his mouth shut.

The next couple of minutes were filled with awkward silence. Reycie got the hint that they didn't want her asking anymore questions so she stopped, but then she didn't really know what else to talk about. Beck didn't say anything because he was too busy silently freaking out, trying to figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, Cat sat completely mute, curled up on the floor cradling Harry in her lap. Beck figured they just needed to get out of there as soon as they could so they could talk but they had to wait for the storm to let up and in the end it didn't for a while. It was already past dark when things finally calmed down outside. Cat had stayed in her spot on the floor the whole time they had been there, but at some point she'd lain down on her side and managed to fall asleep. When Beck noticed this he moved over to where she was and lifted her up so that she was resting her head on his lap instead of the floor.

"We should probably head out soon," Beck told Reycie. She was fiddling with her radio, trying to find a station.

"Uhh are you sure?" she said, looking over at the sleeping girl in his lap. "If you need to stay you can stay."

"We couldn't."

But she just hopped to her feet and said, "No, it's fine. You guys can sleep here and I'll crash in the living room."

"But this is your room."

"It's cool; I usually fall asleep in front of the TV anyway."

Beck was still wary about sleeping in a stranger's house, but then again Reycie wasn't really a stranger now. And he didn't want to have to wake up Cat and drag her all the way back to the RV because he knew by the time they got back she would be up for the rest of the night. So he thanked Reycie about a hundred times for her generosity and he and Cat ended up spending the night.

Reycie stayed in the room with him for a while and they made lighthearted conversation but eventually they both got tired. So she helped him get Cat into bed and then retreated to the living room. As tired as Beck was, he had a hard time getting to sleep. Part of it was because he was so used to sleeping in his RV, that the unfamiliar surroundings were making it difficult for him. But the other part was just because he had so much stuff weighing down on his mind. He did manage to put his burdens aside for a little bit and eventually he drifted off, with Cat beside him, but it wasn't until hours later. And because of this he ended up sleeping well into the afternoon the next day.

He didn't realize how late it was until he looked at the clock on the stereo beside the bed. When he turned to Cat and saw that she wasn't there it didn't surprise him. She usually always woke up before he did anyway. He figured she'd probably gotten bored and went off to go find Reycie.

Beck rubbed his eyes and rolled off the bed to go find them. When he made his way to the living room he could see Reycie and her mom sitting down in the kitchen eating breakfast. Reycie spotted him and waved him over. "Hey, sleepyhead," she greeted.

"Hi." Beck scanned the area but didn't see Cat anywhere.

"You guys sure sleep late. I wasn't sure if I should wake you up or not."

"Are you hungry?" Her mom asked, offering a box of cereal.

Beck lied and said that he wasn't. He didn't want to intrude on them anymore than he already was.

"No, but thank you. We should probably go ahead on and get out of your hair."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded and once again looked around the room. "Where's Cat?"

Beck got nervous when Reycie and her mom exchanged confused glances. "She's not still asleep?"

Beck shook his head slowly but then went back to check again. Reycie got up and ran after him. He looked all around the room, in the closet and even under the bed but she wasn't anywhere. "We'll check the other rooms," Reycie said. And Beck nodded, his heart starting to pound in his chest. He'd never realized it before but this really was his greatest fear coming to life. He'd lost Cat before but he'd always found her immediately right after. Something about this time was different, he had a bad feeling in his gut.

He and Reycie split up to search the house but it didn't take long because there were only so many places she could be. Reycie checked her mom's room and she went to have a look outside while Beck checked the bathroom and the hall closets. Cat was nowhere to be found.

He joined Reycie outside and they took turns calling her name, looking every which way around the neighborhood. They walked back and forth, up and down the street looking for her but when they realized she wasn't there eventually they gave up. "Dammit," Beck cursed loudly because he was starting to freak out a little bit. "I don't understand why she would just leave? Why would she run away like this?" he demanded.

Reycie furrowed her eyebrows together for a moment in thought. Beck didn't expect her to have any answers but he was desperate, so he stood and waited for her to respond. She looked like she was about to say something but then she just shook her head and shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"I have to find her." He stated. There was no question about that. He started down the street; he didn't have a particular place in mind to go but he knew he couldn't just sit still for too long.

Reycie ran after him. "I'll come with you and help you look. She can't be too far right? We can check the beach first. I'll call Chris and Doug and they can help too."

Beck nodded and she put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry we're gonna find her."

After Reycie's friends showed up, the four of them spent hours searching. They walked the entire beach but after awhile they realized she wasn't there. They decided to split up, Reycie's friends promising to keep looking and ask around the area while Reycie and Beck went back to the RV to see if she was there. Beck didn't know why he hadn't gone to look there in the first place; if Cat had left in the middle of the night he figured that would probably be the first place she'd go. Unless she really did want to get away from him then that would be the _last _place she'd think to go. But when they finally made it over there Beck realized he was right. The door was left unlocked when he'd specifically remembered locking it and things inside looked like they'd been mussed about. Beck had hoped he'd find her there but unfortunately he didn't.

"You think she was here?" Reycie asked.

He nodded. Unless somebody had broken in and decided not to take anything. Reycie took a look around while Beck sat down for a moment, trying to think of what to do next. "Beck, if you're really worried maybe we should call the police," she suggested.

He had thought about that. And as much as he didn't want to Cat's safety needed to come first. She was out there somewhere all alone and the fact that she was sort of unstable right now just made things worse. "Yeah, if we don't have her back by tonight then we will. You have to wait 24 hours before doing a missing persons report anyway right?"

"But if it's a special case I'm sure that doesn't even matter."

"What do you mean 'special case'?"

"Just..." She bit her lip, struggling. "Nothing. I just mean if you guys ran away then cops are probably already looking for you so it doesn't matter."

"Right. I guess that does make sense." Beck stood up from where he was sitting and made for the door, Reycie following behind him. "Hey if you had something else you needed to do today I wouldn't get mad if you ditched me. I feel kinda bad," he admitted.

"Don't it's fine. I want to help you," she told him. "And besides, I know this town and you don't. You kinda need me."

"I don't even know where to look next," he admitted again, more to himself than to her. He really was at a loss for what to do next. The city was huge and the girl could have literally been anywhere.

"If you're really worried then let's just call the police."

There were a few reasons why he didn't want to do that but Beck knew it might eventually come to that. "I just wish I knew why she left in the first place," he muttered.

Suddenly she stopped walking and Beck did too. Reycie gave him an uneasy look and started kicking at the dirt road, shifting back and forth on her feet. "Beck, I have to tell you something."

* * *

><p><strong>The next chapter isn't as long as this one but I have most of it written already so it should be up soon. It mainly focuses on Cat so you'll find out where she's gone off to. <strong>

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Pretty please? :)**


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